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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24966838">Between what is right and what is easy</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/navvy/pseuds/navvy'>navvy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The choices we make [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha Gellert Grindelwald, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Discussion of Abortion, F/M, M/M, Omega Albus Dumbledore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 11:07:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>30,806</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24966838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/navvy/pseuds/navvy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Ministry of magic discover Albus Dumbledore is a hidden omega, hell breaks open and a terrible decision threatens Dumbledore's freedom and is bound to change the war against Grindelwald, one way or another. </p><p>After the rally at Paris, the British Ministry of Magic is at shambles and some people push for desperate measures to bring to stop the Dark Wizard Grindelwald... like forcefully bring to heel the only wizard who is said to be a match for the man. Albus Dumbledore, who by 'happy' coincidence, has been revealed to be an omegan in disguise. Old bonds and magics are brought to the fore.</p><p>Albus sees how all his efforts to make a life worth something, after losing his family and the only one he has ever love, start to unravel before his eyes. He thought he would never go through another life-changing event like the one he already survived at seventeen... but he shouldn't be surprised that Gellert was once again at the centre of this maelstrom.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The choices we make [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852957</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>86</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>178</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Ministry Laws</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23087794">Playing Games</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/IhaveAbadfeelingAboutThis/pseuds/IhaveAbadfeelingAboutThis">IhaveAbadfeelingAboutThis</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have some notes about the inspiration for this story, I put them at the end because I felt that if I gave away the inspiration, It will give away the plot too. Read them after the story unless you want to be spoiled. Anyway, this story has every cliche in the book: forced bonding, manipulative Ministry of Magic, in-love-if-still-dark!Gellert...</p><p>As for the title of this. I have to admit I liked that phrase of Dumbledore, and after seeing Fantastic Beasts I wonder If he was thinking of Gellert when he said Harry this.</p><p>This is unbetaed, feel free to send me any corrections, I will actually welcome them!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Albus Dumbledore looked around the room trying to keep his feelings from his face. He was unsurprised to hear - if not see just yet - the turnout on this night. Many, without a doubt, would want to witness the spectacle this evening would become and have a first-hand account of what had happened here. Albus would feel disgusted and irritated if he could feel anything strong at the moment, but mostly he was numb. </p><p>The same numbness which had spread through his whole being when he had felt the admonitors snapping closed on his wrists. He had known then, he wouldn't be walking away without consequences from the Ministry this time around. </p><p>"Well Professor Dumbledore, who would have thought it would come to this? If only you would have chosen to share your skills freely with the Ministry we could have been spared this situation and you would have stayed teaching at Hogwarts after fighting Grindelwald" - Travers smiled his politician smile to Albus. Albus looked back unimpressed.</p><p>"Would I have? Or maybe I would be dead afterwards, if not by Grindelwald's followers' hands I am sure the Ministry would have been happy to arrange a convenient accident for me" - Albus observed. Travers looked back apparently offended, of pretending offence at least. </p><p>"Are you accusing the Ministry of Magic of corruption Professor Dumbledore? You? A man who has been hiding his true nature for his own gain?" - he asked.</p><p>"I was hiding my secondary-gender to be able to teach freely. I wasn't doing any wrong to anyone!" - Albus fired back starting to feel irritated. </p><p>"You know the law Dumbledore, the moment you presented, you should have gone to the Ministry to register!" - Travers retorted hotly. Albus rolled his eyes in response.</p><p>"So you could set me to languish in some boring, gender-approved job?" - he asked in incredulity - "And my life would be over, I would never do or think or see anything unless I found some alpha who would be willing to pander to my wishes..." - Albus shuddered at the thought - "I was lucky I didn't present until after I left Hogwarts, I wasn't going to leave that chance to be free slip through my hands as any other omega who has been in my situation does. Why do you think you have so few of us registered Travers?" - Albus asked disgustedly. </p><p>He remembered the panic he had felt when he finally presented after years of thinking he was simply a beta. He tried to forget the almost-not-there thought which had crossed his mind at the time when he wondered if things would have been different if he had presented before Ariana's death... and Gellert leaving. If the alpha would have left if Albus were not his shameful beta-secret but a properly omega mate. Albus suppressed the hint of tears he could feel rising to his eyes and fixed his eyes back to the curtain. The situation had been complicated enough without him giving in to that kind of speculation.</p><p>"It doesn't matter Travers. We both know all this charade is only for vengeance. You want to get your revenge in me not wanting to bend to your whims, even more now that you know what I am. That was a hit on your pride, wasn't it? When the admonitors showed that I was an omegan your first thought was of shame, that I had denied you, an alpha. You want to take control of me with this foolish schema of yours. It won't work you know. No matter my gender I am still more powerful wizard than any fool you have convinced to take me in. They won't be able to force me to fight. No matter how many laws you pass to try and subjugate my kind" - Albus said cooly. Travers' face was a show off the darkest rage.</p><p>"A foolish omega thinking they are better than an alpha. Do you think you will be able to resist your nature Dumbledore? That your skill with magic will compensate for your omegan wish to please your alpha and bend over?" - he asked crudely. </p><p>Then he smiled evilly, Albus tried to get ready for the next show of cruelty.</p><p>"Or maybe you think your omegan beauty will win over your alpha and they will wish to protect you and make you happy" - he made a pause there - "I doubt that will work either. I heard Grindelwald is an alpha, and he dropped you the moment he got what he wanted from you didn't he?"</p><p>Albus accused the hit without wincing but he felt his heart, breaking anew. Still, he looked back to Travers without showing a hint of his pain. Travers tried to twist the knife a bit more. </p><p>"I had thought the two of you were just friends and that you hadn't dared to join him, but now I am starting to wonder... did you try to seduce him Dumbledore? Is that the reason he left?..." - a sound interrupted them from the side of the room.</p><p>Albus turned back to the new presence, surprised to see Theseus there. The man had almost disappeared after Leta's death only going to Hogwarts with his brother that first day and then hiding in his house for the next weeks. He had tried to take Albus' admonitors that day, but Travers had then intervened with his new law. To force all the unmatted omegan of fertile age to mate with the best-matched alpha who would offer for them. And lo and behold! was that Albus Dumbledore trying to hide his true nature? The admonitors had given away his hidden secret when they registered the glamours Albus had cast to hide it. He had been brought to the Ministry that same day barely able to retain hold of the blood-vow Newt's niffler had stolen for him. It was still around his own neck, enchanted to be only taken by those who had made it. <em>That</em> had enraged Travers anew.</p><p>Albus politely nodded to the younger man. Despite his position in the Ministry, Albus believed that the young Auror was an honest one. Theseus was looking to his superior with a curiously predatory gaze like he was some kind of experiment he wanted to dissect. The look disappeared quickly enough before Travers noticed. Albus said nothing, he couldn't blame the Auror for it. One could argue that Travers' decision to push for the raid, despite Albus' warnings, had been ultimately responsible for the man's fiancee death. Travers didn't seem to notice any animosity from his head Auror and welcomed him with a malicious smile.</p><p>"Theseus! You came finally! I hope you are ready to make a good show for this" - he went to the Auror and put a companionable hand on his shoulder. </p><p>"Of course Sir. I will be happy to... settle this situation once and for all" - Theseus said visibly calming himself. Albus looked him with confusion, not sure if he was understanding the implications of his words correctly.</p><p>"Theseus? Why are you here?" - Albus asked his former student warily. </p><p>Theseus turned his gaze to Albus. He was surprised by the man's ability to hide his thoughts, he hadn't thought him capable of it.  </p><p>"Professor Dumbledore" - he smelled deep - "So it is true then, I could barely believe it" - Theseus uttered with wonder in his voice. Albus was feeling more uncomfortable for the minute, after a month on the Ministry's cells and with his magic contained, he had been unable to suppress his nature anymore. When all this had started he had foreseen he would be hard-pressed to get out of the situation bloodlessly and with his dignity intact, but this looked like it had the potential to be even worse than he had feared.</p><p>"Theseus? Why are you here?" - he asked again - "I thought you were still at home... in mourning" - he finished reluctantly. Leta had deserved more than this strange situation. Theseus didn't react noticeably to Albus' words. </p><p>"I was offered by the Ministry the chance to be one of the participants for this ritual professor. I am sure it will be an interesting experience" - Theseus said calmly. Too calm for Albus' tastes, for the impact of what it was coming from his mouth. </p><p>"Participate? Theseus do you realize the implications of this... ritual as you call it?" - he asked dismayed. Theseus smiled at his former professor's face of horror.</p><p>"Of course I do, professor. Head of Law Enforcement Travers has explained all of us the aim of this ritual. And the incentives for its success" - Theseus explained. Albus looked to the other man with morbid curiosity.</p><p>"Incentives?" - he asked, not sure if he wanted to know the connotations of that word. Travers decided to answer that question himself with a sardonic laugh.</p><p>"Oh yes, Dumbledore! Besides the obvious of course" - he leered disgustingly. Albus just managed to suppress his first, instinctive, reaction. He didn't want to give Travers the satisfaction to see him squirm - "Whoever gains the contest, this magical contest with the Matchmaker Table, will be the one who marries you and, once you fight Grindelwald and kill that madman, they will be able to reach a high position at the Ministry" - Albus looked down to the Head of Law Enforcement and said with his coldest voice.</p><p>"When <em>I</em> gain the fight my so-called-alpha will reap the rewards with a cushy position in the Ministry?" - Albus repeated slowly like he was tasting the words - "What makes you think that will happen? Even if you could, somehow, overpower my will to force me to fight Grindelwald, I won't be at my full strength, being forced. I will lose, or more likely I will not even get close to the man and will be killed by one of his followers. And even if I wanted to fight Grindelwald, why would I want to fight for this Ministry? To fight for a Ministry which made this revolting decrees, and forces me to fight against the man I love?" - he asked starting to lose control at the defencelessness he could feel creeping into his soul. </p><p>"<em>love?</em> so you admit you are in collusion with that murderer!" - Travers said almost victoriously. Albus looked at him contemptuously. </p><p>"Love. Not that you could understand the term. We didn't part ways because we stopped of loving each other..." - Albus trailed off, but forced out the next words - "..at least in my part. I no longer know anything about Grindelwald's mind or heart, and I probably never did. He probably hates me and despises me, so you can scratch that foolish plan of luring him out with my presence. He left after... that summer, saying as a beta I wasn't worth his attention any longer, that he had only wanted to make that blood-vow so he didn't need to worry about me in the future" - Albus said, recovering his composure. If he was going to be sold out to some fool, at least he would make clear that it wouldn't bring them an advantage. </p><p>Travers made an ugly face at Albus' words.</p><p>"No matter. You will be useful at this fight or you won't but you will no longer be a thorn in my side. Maybe Grindewald doesn't care for you but I am sure he will get a laugh at your situation at least. If we can't force you to fight him, even a moment of distraction may be enough to gain us an advantage. I will be moving this along now Theseus, keep an eye on him until the ceremony, will you? Maybe you can convince him to collaborate, things may go smoother if he sees sense" - Travers concluded before leaving the room with a disgusted huff.   </p><p>After Travers left the room there was a terrible stillness between the two remaining men. Theseus finally started to talk again, breaking the tense silence.</p><p>"I am curious about your words professor. Are you saying Grindelwald didn't ask you to go with him?" - he asked dubiously, but softly, like he was talking to a small child or a scared animal. Albus was reminded a bit of the man's brother and his way with beasts, and let out a bitter laugh wondering if he had been reduced to this already.</p><p>"Once he asked yes. But you have seen the reports if Travers knows enough to link me to him. How could I go with him with my sister dead, not even buried? There would be an investigation, and if I didn't stay to smooth it over, who do you think would have been the one blamed for her death? My brother and he were fighting, a girl death in the ground. Who would you blame? the 15-year-old Hogwarts student or the 17-year-old expelled Dumstrang's ex-student?" - Albus asked and then he shook his head trying to get rid of the image of Gellert being kissed by the dementors - "I spared my brother from the trial. I gave Ge...Grindewald a running start to get away, kept him from being formally charged for Ariana's death... and get him free from a relationship with a beta which would have held him back from what he wanted to accomplish. You know how people see alphas, pureblood in particular, getting involved with male betas" - Albus concluded, sitting down again at the only chair and putting his hands to his face. It was all over, his life was spent and he no longer cared for appearances or his family's reputation.   </p><p>Theseus was starting to look uncomfortable at Albus' pain and he felt a bit remorseful for making his former student shoulder more responsibility than he had already. Leta's death was enough pain to have to bear for the poor boy and Albus' past and choices weren't Theseus fault.</p><p>"It is alright, young one. I have made peace with what happened. I may have not made the best choices but I tried to make the best with what I had" - Albus said soothingly. Theseus seemed to come back to himself, looking briefly towards the other side of the curtain before he turned back to Albus.</p><p>"And you truly think Grindelwald has moved on? That he no longer cares for you or for what happens to you?" - he asked in a low voice. Albus noticed the timbre was strange... like he was finding difficult to formulate such an intimate question to his former professor, maybe. Albus decided if he could be honest with this boy, and that made him retreat from the contest, at least he would have saved one of them from this foolish venture. It was the least he could do for the brothers Scamanders after all the danger he had put Newt through.</p><p>"Ge...Grindelwald and I parted very bitterly, Theseus. I don't know how much it was the situation and how much it had already been growing in him, but when I told him I couldn't leave with him... he made pretty clear he had only pursued me to create the blood-vow between us. That he had noticed how much potential I had to be a threat to him so he had devised an easy way to neutralise me. That he only wished to keep an eye on me" - Albus smiled painfully - "I would like to think he was by then lashing out. But even if that was genuine then, from the little I have seen in the newspapers, the images of his speeches and the like... I would think he has moved on from that foolish teenage phase. There was a beta woman, even while we were together, who seemed to follow him around and wrote him often. I remember I was so jealous of her" - Albus smiled at the irony - "Miss Rosier seems to have advanced in the ranks, I've seen her next to him every time he is officially in public. I honestly think I won't be of much use to the Ministry's schemes Theseus. I don't have any hold on him, and I can't fight him. Vow or no vow" - Albus concluded.</p><p>Theseus nodded, still deep in thought, Albus wondered if anything he had told him had made him reconsider his posture. If he had been able to save this brave boy from the slippery slope that was the Ministry's plans and plots. Before he could ask him, there was the sound of a gong from the main room and the two of them turned towards the curtain. Theseus walked to Albus' side to escort him to the ceremony. Albus didn't bother to fight, without his wand, with the Aurors crawling around the building, he hadn't a chance to run. He stood from his chair and walked towards the curtain, followed closely by his former student.</p>
<hr/><p>The main room had been readied for the event. There was a stage before them and the public behind it. In the stage, a great slab of stone - slate - in the vague shape of a table, was the main attraction. Despite his situation, Albus' more scholarly side couldn't help but be a bit fascinated to see the strange magical artefact. </p><p>He had heard talk about it, of course. It was mostly a relic which hadn't been used for the longest time. Its origins were unknown as it was the ways it used to choose the matches it made. It was believed that the wizards it paired were the better match between the candidates offered. But it didn't seem to measure power or likeness or anything the scholars had been able to pinpoint. Sometimes it had matched two wizards of similar strength, some times it matched a weak wizard with a strong one, sometimes it matched wizards whose skills didn't have anything to do with each other. </p><p>The success of the matches was also very irregular. There was the theory that, as the choices it made were just between the offerers, it was difficult to measure the true accuracy of the artefact. With all the difficulties it brought, it had fallen out of use if it had even been used much at all. The old families cared more about the political side of the things when it came to arranged marriages. And the half-blood and muggle-born usually tried the more romantic approach of marrying for love. Except for some of the more ambitious, who fell in with the purebloods' customs. </p><p>Albus looked down to it mutely while Theseus led him towards the lone chair situated at one of the sides. He sat in the chair, and Travers moved close and pinned his wrists' to the two flat surfaces before him. The flat surface of the table was filled with many dark red veins, so dark, that they almost blended with the black of the table.</p><p>At the other side of the table, Theseus joined a group of five wizards and two witches, all of them alphas: Jannete Black, Theseus Scamander, Cedric Avery, Dorea Rowle, Nigellus Macmillan, Hadrian Burke and Amir Shafiq. It almost read like a list of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, except for Scamander. Albus wasn't surprised at the faces he saw there besides Theseus. All were political figures from Britain's Ministry. Three of them, including Theseus, were Aurors from different categories. All were purebloods. And most of them Albus hadn't crossed more than a few words, except for the two he had taught at school. Clearly, they weren't there for Albus, but the Ministry promise of a high position and influence.</p><p>Albus suppressed a sigh, he could barely believe this day could become worse but he had clearly sub estimated Travers stupidity. He fixed his most unimpressed look in the Head of Law Enforcement.</p><p>"You realize Travers you don't know how this table even works, do you? You can't control who it will choose" - he asked as calmly as he could. Travers returned the look with the indifference of someone who knew he had won the match.</p><p>"Everyone here has my trust. No matter who the table chooses, they will have the Ministry best interests in mind" - Travers replied waving the other wizards to sit down. Albus smiled without humour, his suspicion confirmed. This hadn't been an open 'audition' but carefully controlled by the Ministry so any outcome would be an advantage to them.</p><p>"If that is the case, why this farce with the Table? Why didn't you force me with the minion of your choice?" - Albus asked. Travers made a disgusted face.</p><p>"Your... popularity, despite the lies about your gender and your dubious past... friendships made difficult to arrange your marriage directly. Some of your contacts have been moving things around trying to secure you into their custody. The Flannels have been particularly insistent in their claims. Apparently, they see you as a son and claim you should be put under their custody. The Table makes this event a sacred ritual, so they won't be able to interfere. I don't care who you end with as long it is someone with the same goals as the Ministry"</p><p>"Under your thumb you mean" - Albus fired back irritated. </p><p>"Your words are worthless, Dumbledore. You can't escape now, it would have been better for you that you had kneeled in supplication before your former... friend" - he smiled nastily. Albus denied with a shake of his head.</p><p>"It would have been certainly better that I had left the Islands years ago. It is clear Magical Britain has lost whatever it was left of its collective mind" - Albus said and set his lips in a firm line, over with this whole charade.</p><p>Travers had stepped back from the table and signalled one of the Unspeakables to step up and start the ceremony. The dark, hooded figure started a few complicated signals in the table and the black surface started to glow. Albus felt the warmth seep into his enclosed hands, warm but not too hot, luckily. The Unspeakable signalled the alpha wizards to set their hands into the table with a gesture. They had, clearly, been informed what was going to happen since none of them hesitated when setting both palms in front of them, over the table's surface.</p><p>Albus saw Theseus placing his hands on top of the table without hesitating. Whatever Albus' words had evocated in him, it hadn't been enough to detour him from this course. Albus closed his eyes briefly in defeat, he had hoped for a small relief in this ordeal. He opened them again, fixing his gaze to the table, bitterly wanting to see who it would match him with, as soon as possible.</p><p>The Table glow started uniform in every side of the table, but it focused under the hands of the alphas marking red start dots, of different hues, in the seven places. They stayed like that for a few moments, and suddenly the red started to spread like water into the crevices, from the alphas' side of the table towards Albus'. The route the red colours took wasn't straight and it crossed paths between each other, however, the hue marked clearly who the path belonged. Albus knew that at the end, only the winner of the race would keep glowing to make clear the winner even if he was starting to be unable to differentiate the origin of the lines. </p><p>The waiting was disturbing, but ultimately one of the red lines shot straight to Albus and surrounded both of his arms and the clasped wrists. The rest of the lines stopped moving, leaving the winning link to touch Albus at every place he was in contact with the table. Albus felt the warmth of the magic caressing him as... a lover almost. The feeling was familiar to Albus' mind but felt almost faded with time. How long had it been since anyone had touched him like he was something precious? Albus tried to focus on the red line, ignoring as he could the feelings it evoked and waited for the rest of the lines to fade so they could see who it connected him with.</p><p>The other lines glowed more brightly for a moment until they started to fade again, leaving only one of them linking Albus to... </p><p>Theseus Scamander.</p><p>Albus lifted his eyes surprised towards the younger man's, locking gazes with calm blue eyes. He could barely believe it. He didn't know if he should feel angry or not by this outcome. On one hand, he had known Theseus for years and know him to be a good man. On the other hand, he had taught the man as a boy, he had known him to be most attracted to women, also he had tragically lost his fiancee. What was he doing here? Did he blame Albus for Leta's death? Was he planning to avenge his late fiancee by forcing Albus to fight her killer, no matter how little physical interest he felt for him? The kind of bond Travers had planned required intimacy, at the very least, to be formed correctly. It forced the couple to complete the bond within hours, intimately. He couldn't imagine either of them was going to enjoy that. Albus hadn't been with anyone since that fateful summer thirty years ago and had never been with someone since he presented as omega. Travers had been very pleased to display the whole picture to Albus in the time he had been forced to wait for his fate.   </p><p>Theseus stood from his seat without lifting his hands from the table. The Unspeakable made some motions with his hand while the rest of the wizards backed up from the table. The hooded man started the binding immediately because neither of them could leave the table unbonded, once the ceremony had started. Binding of magic and soul, and soon of bodies. The ritual was as old as the wizarding world, although it was usually surrounded by a party, food and cheer. And it usually didn't include a forced consummation as part of the procedures. Albus could see Travers' hand in that part, and he was indeed smiling from the back of the room. He seemed to be satisfied by the Table's choice, and he was enjoying to be a witness of the unravelling of Albus' fate. </p><p>Once the Unspeakable ceased the motions of his hands, Albus felt his bondings to the Table lift, and the wrists constrains opening. He rose immediately from the chair, backing up as much as he could from the rest of the room. He could feel magic again, even without his wand which the Unspeakable was giving to Theseus now. The Auror caressed it for a moment and store it up to his sleeve, probably into a hidden holster. Albus, even without his wand, could feel a link within him, but he was still too disoriented by the procedures to make any sense of what he felt. Or to figure out why Theseus felt so... right.</p><p>Theseus walked towards him immediately, now the ceremony was over, and once he was within touching distance casually surrounded him with his arm while he turned them back towards the rest of the room. Albus was too surprised by the proximity and the intimate, unexpected touch to react appropriately. Theseus took advantage of the surprise to draw him closer while he took out his own wand. For a moment Albus' mind went blank of surprise, he felt unable to react and while it was clear the rest of the presents hadn't realized yet of the situation at hand.</p><p>Because right there, in Theseus' hand was what it was most definitely not Theseus' wand but a longer, darker one, carved with clusters of elderberries down its length. Albus rose his eyes to the wizard next to him and saw a wicked smile very much unlike Theseus' usual serious mien or calm smiles. Albus looked down the wand and then to the rest of the room, who seemed still unaware of the dark wizard in their midst. He started to talk in a hushed voice.</p><p>"What are you planning now then? <em>Gellert</em>?" - he asked Gellert. Because it was indeed the Dark Lord who was next to him - <em>bonded to him?</em> - in the middle of the representatives of the most important wizard's families in Britain, and a great part of the British Ministry. And the head of Law Enforcement. With the Elder Wand in his hand.</p><p>"Now, we show them just what a ... a terrible mistake they had done and the foolishness of their choices, don't you think <em>Liebe</em>?" - Gellert asked, while Theseus' features smoothly dissolved into the older, harsher visage of Gellert Grindelwald.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Ministry panic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Ministry is starting to understand the scope of their mistakes.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for the amazing response this has gotten! I am glad you enjoyed this and shared your impressions with me. I only wanted to post a small piece with Albus and Gellert getting together and maybe getting a bit of a revenge on the Ministry. I don't know how small this will end being (I have little control of myself) I had only planned for the bonding, but I am writing scenes past that so... I will try to keep it simple, maybe 4-5 chapters? and perhaps I will write a sequel if I still got ideas and can fit them in another story. Send me ideas if you want, I would love to try and fit them if I can :D  </p>
<p>Unbetaed. Please, feel free to point any mistake you see. Or probably the worst of them as I suspect there is plenty. I won't be offended in the least!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A slowly growing silence extended among the rest of the room while some of the people present started to realize that things had become very serious and stared open-mouthed to the Dark Lord revealed among them. </p>
<p>Gellert looked back to them without losing his amused expression or letting go from the hold he had on Albus. Now he had the other man in his grasp and tied to him not only by a blood-vow but by a <em>Ministry sanctioned! the irony was so delicious!</em> marriage bond he wasn't leaving him out of his sight for a few years at the very least. Gellert could barely contain his glee, and deep down where no one but Albus had ever reached into, he felt a deep happiness and the growing sense of <em>right</em> he felt with the other man at his side, again.</p>
<p>He still was enraged by the Ministry's intentions of harnessing Albus' powers for their own uses - even if that foolishness had played right into Gellert's hands. He could still See the pain Albus would have suffered fighting a bond with someone else, when that someone tried to force him to fight Gellert. The fact Albus would fight to his death - he had Seen - to avoid being forced to kill Gellert had healed a wound the dark wizard hadn't known he had. He didn't have any intention to allow that particular vision of becoming true. </p>
<p>Gellert felt giddy remembering Albus' admission of his enduring love for him. It was combined with the painful awareness of the other's belief - or fear - that it wasn't returned, that Gellert had used him all along. Enraged as he had been in the evening they had parted, he had thought it was obvious that he had been lashing out to Albus - so he would share the pain he was feeling. Clearly, he had underestimated British's foolish notions of alpha - beta relationships and the strongly ingrained belief in Albus that he wasn't good enough for Gellert because of it.</p>
<p>Once he had calmed down, he had realized Albus hadn't rejected him, that he had been confused by the situation and afraid for the both of them. His actions with the Aurors when they had arrived to clear Ariana's body had made that clear. Gellert didn't know how he had kept that foolish brother of his in check, but no mention of their fight or Gellert's presence had been wrote down in the Auror's statements. That had allowed Gellert to get away cleanly and start his revolution without pending causes back in England until his own actions at the Continent had made him <em>persona non grata</em> on the Islands. That realization had kept him going, knowing that Albus' love had proved true, and with the hope that they would be able to reconcile at some point. </p>
<p>But he hadn't realized that his own love had been put into question by his actions and his rushed words before he left. Words he had almost forgotten by the time he had reached Calais and the French's coast. Words he had dismissed as irrelevant when he heard from his aunt that he hadn't been betrayed by his lover to the Aurors. </p>
<p>But Albus didn't have that comfort. For years he had been remembering the words Gellert had hurled to him in the height of his pain - and teenage angst. That stupid words he had left Albus with had remained with him all those years. Like he had ever cared about that foolish notion than he, a male alpha, shouldn't be with a male beta. Like he would have priced some brainless omega over his perfect match, just because they were omega, or some female beta for what it mattered. It was preposterous to think he would price a meek pureblood omega before his brilliant, clever, amazing Albus. Not like even that seemed to be an obstacle now. Albus had become the perfect mate for him even for those ridiculous British pureblood fanatics that even he had to pander to from time to time. Omega, brilliant and as magically strong as before - if not more, who knows what he had learnt all those years they had been apart - he was... simply perfect. </p>
<p>He would make him see that, he would make him forget the pain he had felt that day, and the pain he had felt all the years between. He would banish those foolish notions of unworthiness, or other lovers from his mind. He had taken others but just as a form of release and never someone he knew or someone twice - <em>like he would want another after having met and tasted his perfect mate</em>. The notion of him being with Vinda, or any other of his acolytes, was just ridiculous although he would make sure that was clear for everyone once he brought Albus back to Nurmengard. </p>
<p>Vinda had, after all, tried to seduce him when they first met. He had been too raw at the time to remember Albus' misgivings of the witch. When she had started to write to him he was still in Godric's Hollow Albus had been aware of her. He hadn't liked her insistence or her interest in him. And he had been clearly in the right in the end when he suspected the reasons of the witch's interest. It was just as well he hadn't remembered that when Vinda had tried to seduce him. He might have been tempted to sleep with her as a vengeance towards his lover, and that would have made things even more complicated now. He didn't want to get rid of one of his lieutenants right now, after all. But he would if he needed, he wouldn't make Albus miserable about something like that when there were so many things they still needed to hash out.</p>
<p>But first, he needed to 'explain' those idiots just how terribly, catastrophically wrong their actions were. How terrible the consequences of their actions were. And to take Albus away immediately after. The second step of the marriage ritual would soon make itself known after all. That had been an addition of Travers, not Gellert, not that anyone would believe that. If the situation wouldn't have involved Albus, Gellert would have left the Travers to hang himself with his own actions. The small-minded man had been obsessed with the notion of humiliating Albus as much as he could. Gellert planned to make him regret every petty action at the appropriate time. Which wasn't right now, unfortunately. </p>
<p>"Grindelwald!" - Dorea Rowle was the first to say his name in surprise, although it was quickly echoed by many others. She had backed away from the table when 'Theseus' had been marked as the winner but she was the closest to the two of them when Gellert had dropped his disguise. Gellert threw her a smile in response.</p>
<p>"Miss Rowle, I would advise you and your companions to leave this place immediately. I have no quarrel with any of you unless you wish to fight me" - he said calmly, lazily caressing the Wand while he talked, the threat implicit. Rowle, pureblood at the core and from a well known dark family, nodded respectfully and promptly appearated away as did the rest of the candidates to Albus' hand and most of the witnesses once they realized the seriousness of the situation. That was the price, Gellert supposed, of getting unscrupulous people to help you with your deeds: they had little loyalty but to themselves. Gellert would have commiserated with Travers, having suffered something of that himself, if he didn't hate the pest as much as he did.</p>
<p>Soon enough, the room was only occupied by Gellert, Albus, Travers and his Aurors. A dozen of them remaining next to the Head of Law Enforcement and nervously watching Grindelwald's movements like he was a violent animal about to attack mindlessly. </p>
<p>Gellert smiled to them just for the fun of seeing them squirm scared. Albus had kept silent at his side, externally relaxed but also focused on the men opposite to them. Regardless of how convinced - or not - he might be about Gellert and Gellert's intentions, he was apparently <em>slightly</em> enjoying the sight of them cowering before the Dark Wizard. The other wizard was a too good Occlumens for Gellert to get into his head easily, or unknowingly, but the magical bond they had just performed gave him a small sense of the man next to him and he could feel his amusement. Albus was probably sensing some of his own enjoyment. </p>
<p>"My friends..." - he started, dragging the moment sadistically. He smiled to the witch at the left of Travers and she returned the gesture. Albus tensed slightly at his side and Gellert turned his head to fondly kiss the other man's forehead. He felt his lover pausing at the gesture, disconcerted, as he had hoped. He needed to keep Albus calm until they were alone and able to hash out their relationship. He wasn't going to allow any further misunderstanding to keep them apart for any longer. He decided to move along the pace, aware that he needed to get away as soon as possible, for more reasons than one. He nodded to some of the Aurors - the agreed signal - and they detached from Travers' side walking towards him to turn back towards the others, wands ready - "My friends, this is the moment to make a few things clear" - Gellert smiled while his Acolytes crossed to their side of the room and took places around Albus and him in an open vee formation with them in the centre. </p>
<p>Travers' eyes almost rolled out of his sockets from the surprise. Gellert enjoyed the look of fear in his face. It was a small retribution for the man's actions against Gellert's omega, but it was the start of what it would come for him.</p>
<p>"Deverill? Alton? Fenwick?" - Travers asked looking to the 'Aurors' on Gellert side - "Wilkins? What are you doing? You can't have joined Grindelwald! I won't allow it!" - Travers said nonsensically. </p>
<p>Albus, who had been watching the 'Aurors' closely, rolled his eyes at that last show of idiocy looking down thoughtfully to the 'Aurors' wands to check what he already suspected, he had taught some of those wizards and witches after all and the wands they wielded. Most of the people had difficulties with wielding other wizards' wands so even in disguise, they often kept their own at hand. Looking back towards Gellert he raised a single eyebrow in silent question. Gellert smiled innocently back in response. Albus shook his head at that. Gellert hadn't been able to play the innocent card since before he had appeared at Godric's Hollow and turned Albus' life upside-down. However, he didn't bother to enlighten Travers or the remaining Aurors. Gellert smile turned warm and fond, how he had missed that quicksilver mind. Unpredictable, wild and so fast to see into Gellert's plans and schemes. </p>
<p>He was starting to get excited and it wasn't only the growing effects of the ceremony. Albus' mind had always been his more attractive asset. Also his beautiful body, amazing sky-blue eyes... </p>
<p>He coughed slightly to go back on track and made a signal to his men to get ready before he turned back to Travers.</p>
<p>"Torquil, can I call you Torquil?" - he asked softly like he was talking to a small witless child. Without waiting for the other wizard to answer he continued - "I am afraid there has been a terrible misunderstanding. You see"- he smiled a bit sadistically - "I have a problem with your Ministry and their methods I am afraid" - Gellert stated. He heard Albus chocking on air at his words. Clearly, his beloved was having some difficulties, he caressed his back in a calming gesture. </p>
<p>Travers had almost recovered his composure - externally at least - and fixed the Dark Lord and his followers with his darkest look. Gellert felt almost impressed, he was as scary as a drowned kneazle.</p>
<p>"Dumbledore! Are you going to stand there while this terrorist attack the British Ministry? You have always claimed you weren't in league with Grindelwald" - Travers said. Albus raised a single eyebrow, politely.</p>
<p>"What do you expect me to do Travers? I am just a civilian - unarmed by the way - you have repeatedly said that when the Minister asked for my opinion. An <em>omegan</em> civilian at that! Haven't you just passed a law which strips my kind from all rights beyond what our bonded gives us? Forcing us to bond to the Ministry pleasure?" - Albus fired back, showing the quick intellect which could run circles around a fool like Travers and which had made him Hogward's best pupil and most beloved teacher. He theatrically waved his hand towards Gellert's silent presence with his free arm. His other arm was around Gellert's back to give it someplace to rest, given the dark wizard's insistent grasp on Albus which had him flush against his left side.</p>
<p>Gellert smiled a bit fiercely at his beautiful, clever mate's words while some of his followers laughed softly.</p>
<p>"You see Torquil? I am afraid you can't avoid dealing with me. My beautiful <em>husband</em>... thank you for arranging the ceremony, by the way, I couldn't have done without your help. I hope your newspapers give your 'irreplaceable help' the coverage it deserves" - Gellert laughed at Travers' look of horror - "My Albus here and I, are from now on, a single entity as far as anyone else is concerned" - he felt Albus' sidewise look at his phrasing, clearly trying to decipher the wording he had used. </p>
<p>Good. He would understand soon. He had never wanted a subjugated mate. He wanted what he had only briefly, those two months, summers ago: an equal. And Albus was his equal, he didn't want to change a single hair of him. </p>
<p>He turned back to Travers. They needed to go now, Travers' panic would make him stupid - stupider - and his own people would make sure that his role delivering Albus to Gellert's arms would be widely reported. The Ministry would have their hands full trying to survive the backlash of nullifying Britain's best defence against Grindelwald and his party.</p>
<p>But before he left, he wanted to make an statement. To make sure no one ever thought they could go against Gellert's omega unscathed. He moved his wand around lazily, creating a pattern in the air while the Ministry's wizards moved restlessly, neither daring to attack him without a direct attack and unable to recognize what he was doing. All the better, they would soon realize their folly. He saw Albus' gaze locking in his wand and taking a sideways look to the walls and floor and he had to repress a smile at his mate' clever mind. His silent spell finished he lowered his wand.  </p>
<p>Gellert made eye-contact with his followers and then turned to fully face Albus, surrounding his waist with his arms. The slenderer man rose his grey-blue eyes to Gellert's mismatched ones in silent question while placing his own hands on Gellert's arms. Gellert didn't fool himself thinking than Albus meekness was more than skin-deep. The other man had already shown himself a genius puppeteer and an expert chess master. He had been able to hide his nature for years from everyone and had become Britain's more powerful wizard, recognized even by his enemies. He was bidding his time and watching Gellert before deciding his next move. Gellert smiled at the challenge.</p>
<p>"<em>Liebe?</em> The next part of the ceremony, the one your Minister so kindly arranged" - he wasn't above emphasise the Ministry's part in this, Albus threw an enraged look to Travers and his magic beautifully flared in response, making a small breeze to rise - "is better done in private. I would love to give you more time but we better leave now. Do you want to give our friends any parting advise?" - he asked politely. Albus looked up to him with unfathomable eyes, greyer now than blue showing his lingering anger, before turning his head towards the Ministry officials without leaving Gellert's arms.            </p>
<p>"Travers?" - Albus called blandly. The Head of Law Enforcement seemed to have difficulty meeting the dark gaze of the professor, despite the even tone. - "I would like to think you will learn from this, but I know you don't have the brains for it. Soon we will meet again, I am sure. You may want to get some air to clear your head." - he said cryptically, Gellert repressed a smile - "For now, I just want to remind you what I told you before all this mess started" - Albus continued. Travers looked blankly back and dared to ask.</p>
<p>"And what was that?" - he asked. Albus smiled beautifully and wickedly turned his gaze towards his <em>husband</em>. Gellert could almost smell the blood Albus was reading to draw. Albus drew nearer to the dark wizard and talked softly with his lips so close to Gellert's, he could feel his breath in them.</p>
<p>"I told you, your policies are pushing supporters into Gellert's arms" - Albus concluded smoothly, pushing the barely hidden dagger of his words right into Travers' soft skin. </p>
<p>Gellert smiled amused and closed the last distance to Albus' lips, giving his new husband their first kiss as a married couple, feeling the other man amused smile against his lips. While he did, he gathered his magic and apparated them out of the Ministry and out of Britain, letting Albus' words a fitting farewell for those fools to choke on.</p>
<p>Just after he left, he saw his acolytes completing the pattern he had started. Travers better had a backup headquarters, things were going to become very <em>hot</em> at this one. No one would be able to use that table ever again. Without Gellert present, the blue flames wouldn't be as dangerous as the last time, so most of them would be able to escape, probably even Travers. Gellert was only interested in making an statement for the time being, Travers would be better be wary of what would come for him. Gellert wasn't too worried about Travers for now, he had another priorities. But he would be disappointed if he couldn't personally thank to the Head of Magical Law Enforcement - in the near future - for his matchmaking skills.</p>
<p>Once he had the time. Now he had an omega to claim, and almost thirty years to make up for.</p>
<hr/>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Consummating the bonding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Albus and Gellert make up for thirty years apart...or they start to.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just smut really. I can't claim any kind of plot here except for a bit more of Albus' angst at some points. Thank you again to everyone for the amazing answer to this, I am glad you are enjoying. I was going to post this in two chapters as it got a bit too long, but I though it fit one better, so a bit of a longer chapter this time!  </p><p>Unbetaed, again feel free to point out any and all mistakes you want</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Albus and Gellert Apparated into a huge, large and grandiose entry hall. Albus looked around the beautiful room surprised. He had, of course, heard about Gellert's fortress Nurmengard but he hadn't imagined the full scope of the mountain palace. If this hallway was a fitting representation of the rest of his headquarters, Gellert had clearly outdone himself.  </p><p>Gellert kept hold of Albus' hand while he looked around at the followers who had already arrived back. Some of them seemed to be shaking off appearance-changing charms or starting to wear off Polyjuice - or whatever means they had used to slip into the British Ministry unnoticed, depending on their skills. Those people were only the low lever clerks and staff he had implanted over the last month at the Ministry and who had slipped away at the moment the ceremony had started so they had the time to return to their headquarters. Albus stayed at Gellert's side silently, waiting to see how the next scene would develop. It was one thing to storm the Ministry and fool their plans, a very different thing to welcome their leader's up-until-now worst enemy - as far as they had known - into their midst. </p><p>A beautiful blonde woman walked down the stairs towards them. Albus looked curiously to the gentle-looking omega, almost certain he knew who this young girl was by other people's descriptions but unwilling to make her uncomfortable if he was wrong or if it was a difficult reminder. The girl wasn't so impeded, she looked gazes with him looking surprised and exclaimed.</p><p>"Oh! Thank you! You are very handsome too, no wonder Mr Grindelwald hasn't been able to forget you. And your mind is so calm and collected! There is almost nothing slipping!" - Queenie said cheerfully, confirming Albus' suspicions. Albus smiled kindly back to her, fondly being reminded of one of his younger students. There was something pure and kind in her that he couldn't help to answer to.</p><p>"It is a pleasure to finally meet you Miss Goldstein, and thank you for the compliment. I learnt Occlumency years ago when I first presented as an omega. Another protection against being discovered" - Albus explained. Gellert looked down at him interested.</p><p>"Protection?" - he asked in curiosity. Albus had been telling the truth when he said that many omega in his situation - who had presented when they were already out of the school and therefore were able to hide it - didn't register at the Ministry. But it was rare for someone of Albus' level of exposure to be able to hide his gender for as long as he had. Gellert must have been wondering how the other had been able to accomplish it. </p><p>Albus nodded to his... husband. </p><p>"Occlumency has many uses, besides the obvious" - he signalled the blonde Legilimens - "It helps to order your mind and control your impulses, for a start. Your rational decisions mainly of course, but with enough discipline you can control some instincts like bending the neck to an alpha or releasing hormones when distressed. Both of them would give you away as an omega" - Albus explained. </p><p>Gellert nodded with a fascinated look - very reminiscent of how he had looked to Albus when they were younger. He placed his arm around Albus again and nodded to the blonde.    </p><p>"My husband and I will be retiring now. We have much to catch up with and we would like to be alone. Keep an eye on my people's return and tell the acolytes to keep an eye on the British Ministry's reaction" - Gellert ordered. With Gellert magical strength and the Elder Wand besides, he had been able to Apparate directly from the Ministry to the castle, but his people would need a few stops to arrive so those who had stayed until the end of the ritual still were in transit. Miss Goldstein would take care of them when they arrived and would carry out Gellert's orders.  </p><p>With that out of the way, Gellert took them through the corridors, up a set of stairs and past some hallways all of which made Albus feel completely lost. Finally, they reached a huge set of doors which, after Gellert unlocked them, lead them to some new great, beautiful rooms. Once they were inside and the doors were again locked and warded, Gellert looked down to Albus and said.</p><p>"I would love to give you a tour, but Travers' interference makes our situation a bit rushed" - he said apologetically. Albus nodded with his head in grim agreement.</p><p>"He was very pleased to explain to me that part of the ritual in detail. I don't like to think he gave so much thought to my sexual life, to be honest" - Albus admitted.</p><p>"I would spare you this if I could" - Gellert said sincerely. Albus raised an eyebrow feeling amused despite himself - "I would spare you the rush and being forced into this at this moment, that doesn't mean I haven't wanted you all this time" - he rectify with a sly smile. Albus smiled in return.</p><p>"I know that. I do know you Gellert. Force has never been something you enjoyed and it has never been necessary between us. I know, regardless of all which has divided us, you would have had never forced me like this. You enjoy seduction far too much to accept any kind of... shortcut, certainly you would never enjoy something which is not consensual" - Albus smiled to take the sting out of the mention of their parting. Gellert raised his hands to Albus' face and framed it between them, caressing the features he had missed for so long. Albus leaned into the touch.</p><p>"I wouldn't have our first time after so long to be something forced by a ritual none of us has chosen. Travers is a little-minded fool and he will pay for this" - Gellert said, threateningly. </p><p>Albus closed his eyes thoughtfully, humming in response to Gellert's words. He knew he should feel worried by Gellert's plans but he couldn't muster any care about the fate of that disgusting man, or those who had chosen to close their eyes to his actions and who now would pay the consequences. He decided he had given the man all the power he deserved, which was none. He wasn't going to allow him to orchestrate their first time together after so long. Opening his blue-grey eyes he locked gazes with that mismatched gaze and said.</p><p>"Our first time doesn't need to be forced by this bond" - he said firmly. He closed the last distance between them raising both of his arms to Gellert's shoulders and placed his forehead against the blonde's - "I don't want to let him win. We need to talk and find a common ground for us, or unless... I am presuming that is the reason you came to the Ministry? If you had wanted me dead or nullified you would have only needed to sit back and wait. I would have fought the bond to the end..." - Albus trailed off feeling unusually flustered. He was now remembering Gellert's last words after their fight and the constant doubt he had felt over the long years about how much he had meant them.  </p><p>Gellert seemed to follow his train of thought because he put the thumb of one of the hands he still had framing Albus' face to his lips to silence him before he could talk himself into a panic attack.</p><p>"I came for you, Albus. Only for you. No matter your political stance, your designation beta or omega. No matter if it was a trap or not, I couldn't let you in that situation and I couldn't let you bond to someone else. Not because I was afraid you would fight me" - he denied with a shake of his head - "If someone has the right to fight me and the chance to win, that is you, Albus. But I wasn't going to allow some Ministry lackey to force you, or some weak fool to try to touch you" - Gellert said possessively, kissing the omega <em>his omega</em> deeply in the lips and then following with wandering kisses to Albus' face. </p><p>The mere thought of someone putting a hand on Albus was building up every protective and possessive feeling the alpha had. Gellert led him through the rooms, into the bedchamber and to the big bed at the back wall. Albus yield to him, giving him the lead as he always had in the bedroom. Even if they were almost the same age, Gellert had always been the more experienced of the two of them.  </p><p>"This has nothing to do with Travers and his lackeys Albus. You are, and always has been, mine. As I am yours" - Gellert said guiding his husband down to the bed. </p><p>Albus allowed the move. He laid down on top of the covers looking up to the alpha while he categorized every difference he could see in the other since the last time they had crossed paths in person. He had many questions, many doubts. Some, he feared the answer - like how many others Gellert had bedded in this place - but he had been in earnest before. He didn't want to make this first time about the Ministry. He would have time later for figuring out where he fitted on Gellert's movement if he fitted anywhere. But he would allow himself this night, this one chance to be happy and forget everything else. This one chance to erase the pain he had felt when he first lost Gellert and the pain he had felt again when he had first presented as an omega and felt the initial loss doubled by the irony of the fact that he had become a fitting mate for the alpha and it was too late by then.</p><p>Gellert laid down on top of Albus, resting his forearms on each side of the omega face and resting his forehead against him, pressing his lower body flush against the others'. Albus could sense - without any space for doubt - how very happy the alpha was to have him under him.   </p><p>"<em>Liebling?</em> I see you haven't changed, you still get lost into your head" - Gellert smiled, nosing around Albus' ear and then starting to kiss down his neck. </p><p>Albus returned his focus to the other man. He felt his body instinctively relaxing under the alpha while he raised his chin to bare more of his neck to the other. He didn't fight the instinct, the pleasure he felt sensing Gellert's scent surrounding him and the reaction which was making him to slow down an surrender. He raised his arms, encased as he was under the other's body, to Gellert's sides, caressing the fabric of his suit's jacket and feeling the muscles bellow. </p><p>This was definitely a change from the boy he remembered. Gellert had been from the moment they met, taller and broader than Albus, a typical alpha countenance. But he had been much scrawnier as a seventeen-year-old than he was now. Still slim and fit, he was just a bit taller but much broader and muscled than before. He enjoyed the feeling of Gellert's body under his hands and wondered how he compared to his younger self in the other's eyes. </p><p>Like he was reading his thoughts - and maybe some of them were slipping from his Occlumancy barriers with the bond - Albus wasn't sure how the magical connection worked among people trained in the mental arts, or with someone who held the Elder Wand - Gellert, who had started to open Albus' shirt and vest, said.</p><p>"I have dreamt about this moment <em>Liebe</em>. To see you again and touch you. I never lost faith that we would find our way back again to each other" - Gellert said softly, his accent and his voice rougher than usual while he opened Albus' buttons by hand, enjoying the unveiling. </p><p>Albus shivered at the sensation of Gellert's breath against his chest and his hands caressing his naked skin. Albus felt like every nerve on his body was on fire and he was unable to suppress a moan at Gellert's words. Gellert's hands seemed to be everywhere and he didn't stop until he had Albus bared from his shirt. Albus returned the favour with Gellert's suit jacket and shirt and he had to smile at the clothes now he was paying attention to them.</p><p>"Theseus' style doesn't suit you. I much prefer you in your usual clothes" - Albus admitted, then a thought crossed his mind and he was surprised and ashamed it hadn't until now - "What did happen to him anyway? I find difficult to believe you could kill him without his brother raising the alarm. Particularly after Leta's death, he would keep him close" - Gellert paused for a moment looking down to his lover with a complicated look in his face.</p><p>"You have many friends <em>Liebling</em>, and none of them was happy with the Ministry's actions. The Scamander brothers and their friends are 'officially grieving for Ms Lestrange's fate' and they can't possibly know if anyone is outside supplanting any of their identities" - Gellert recited like he was quoting someone else. </p><p>He had stopped his kisses, but he kept caressing Albus' chest absently while he spoke. Something in his face made Albus' mind buzz intrigued but he wasn't able to pinpoint the expression. Albus raised his hand to Gellert's forehead smoothing the small crease and then stroking his cheek.</p><p>"Then... you knew they were going to be out of the way, so you intercepted Travers' offer and put yourself in Theseus' place" - Albus mused out loud surprised, already getting distracted again by Gellert's presence. Now he knew no one had paid for his mistakes this time around and his former students were safe, he returned his focus to Gellert's half-dressed body. </p><p>He lowered his hands to Gellert's chest again and mapped the new-found definition there. He had to admit, maturity suited well his old friend. As enchanted as he had been with the seventeen-year-old foreign new neighbour when he was seventeen himself, now he was older, he found this new Gellert much more to his taste. And talking of taste, he decided he had been too patient restraining himself and he needed to keep moving this along. He smiled wickedly to his lover and, without any warning, put his mouth to Gellert's pecks. Gellert's reaction was satisfactory when the alpha's breath get caught at his throat and he let out a gasp of pleasure while his body relaxed under Albus' hands.</p><p>Albus took advantage of that, surrounding Gellert's waist with his arms and using them to turn their positions around, settling on top of the other wizard without parting his lips from Gellert's body. Gellert allowed the movement - Albus couldn't have overpowered the physically stronger alpha without his consent - and rested on his back looking up to the beautiful redhead. Albus raised his eyes from his position mapping Gellert's upper chest with kisses, to check into his reaction. </p><p>Gellert sighed and cradled Albus' head with his hands, softly pressing him to his chest in a signal of agreement for his plans. Albus smiled again, more fondly than before - there weren't many alphas who would allow an omega to take charge like this with their instincts so close to the surface because of the ritual, but then Gellert hadn't ever been a common alpha - and returned his focus to the skin before him. He used his hands in combination with his lips and tongue to reach every inch of the skin which had been out of his reach for so long. He examined every new muscle - and scar - to his exact standards, always keeping his path down Gellert's body. Gellert's hands in the meantime kept gently holding his head, caressing Albus' longer hair, who was now shoulder length after the month in the Ministry's hands. He hadn't been allowed to cut his hair while imprisoned at the Ministry so it had grown considerably from his former cut, and the charms he had cast to hide the colour - so he could avoid any interest from others and therefore avoid discovery of his gender - had faded weeks ago. His hair was back to his original bright red colour, instead of the less eye-catching blondish brown. Gellert seemed very fond of it, as he had in the past, combing his fingers through it now.</p><p>Albus had reached Gellert's belt buckle. Abus had been hard from the moment Gellert had first touched him but he was enjoying this game of soft touches and gentle exploring. He could see Gellert was also aroused by his touch and that sent a spike of heat down his own body. Despite the growing bulge he saw in front of him, Gellert's hands were gentle on his hair, although he felt the alpha froze when he reached his waist waiting to see what he was going to do. Albus rose his eyes again to those mismatched ones keeping both of his hands on Gellert's waist. Gellert's eyes were blazing down to him unable - or unwilling - to hide his feelings. Albus was feeling wicked, but also very grateful for the alpha's patience with him. Gellert was leaving him to set the pace, probably aware of the feelings of helplessness and unworthiness he had been suffering over the last few weeks at the Ministry's hands. Having the alpha - <em>having Gellert</em> - willingly staying pliant under Albus' hands was healing a hurt the Omega hadn't known he had. A new wave of fondness surged through him and Albus had the wish to reward the other wizard.</p><p>With that in mind, he decided enough was enough. Slow and sweet were good and well, but they had been away for far too long. And as grateful he was at Gellert's treatment of him - like he was still an untouched youth - he would show him he had never forgotten the time they had spent together. Also, they had been holding back their arousal for far too long, and while he usually didn't like to cater to the clichés about their secondary genders, Albus knew alphas had a harder time resisting long periods of arousal because of their innate, more aggressive characters.</p><p>It wasn't true they couldn't resist the pull, as some pure-blood supremacist tried to excuse the poor behaviour - or criminal one at times - of their heirs. But Albus knew it could become physically painful to resist the pull of their instincts for too long, and the ritual was creating a foreign pressure to their own needs. In here, omegas had the advantage, they were build to endure and resist for the stronger and more capable alpha, to wait for them to win the contest to mate the omega. That wasn't the case now and Albus didn't want to reward Gellert's patience and kindness by making him endure the brunt of Travers' dark plans. He could see in his fiery eyes - and hard arousal - that he was already at the edge. They had all the night to play and Albus decided he wanted them both to enjoy it, so he needed to take off the edge a bit. </p><p>With that in mind, he sent another devilish smile up to Gellert - noticing with some pleasure his flash of worry - and before the other could decide if he should be troubled, he opened his pants with a quick hand. Making a quick work of the buttons at the front he opened Gellert's - or Theseus' really - pants and slipped his hand inside drawing Gellert out. The touch of his hand on Gellert's member prompted a loud gasp out of him, and a small buck of his hips. But that was soon forgotten when Albus lowered his head and in a smooth movement swallowed him whole. </p><p>Albus held his position around Gellert's length for a moment, breathing through his nose. The half-contained shout and spasm of Gellert's hands on his head was satisfactory and sent another flash of heat over his own body. But that wasn't the point of this exercise, well not entirely the point anyway. He had started this as a recompense for Gellert's patience and kindness and he would use every trick he had learnt that summer to bring his lover pleasure now. He put one of his arms across Gellert's hips to hold him down against any sudden movements, so he didn't get chocked up and placed his other hand to cradle his smooth balls. Gellert had managed by now to get a bit of a hold of himself, one of his hands taking hold of the sheets next to his body while the other was cradling Albus' nape.</p><p>"Al! <em>Liebe</em>" - he rasped incoherently. Albus smiled around his mouthful before he decided Gellert was still too coherent and swallowed around him, using frantically his tongue as best as he could, while he used his hand to roll his balls softly. He needed to put down some of his weight in his left forearm - the one he was using to hold Gellert down - so he could avoid being chocked by his lover unconscious bucking. Gellert shuddered in response and went completely incoherent, babbling in faltering German when he could string two words together, with Albus' name intersected. Albus kept his 'attack' ruthlessly, rubbing his own lower body against the sheets excited by his partner's reactions and allowing his hair to caress Gellert's legs. The alpha didn't have any defence and soon he was raising his other hand to cradle Albus head again in warning.</p><p>"Al! Albus! <em>fuclk!</em> Just there, please love... I'm..." - he gasped roughly. Albus swallowed again in response and then backed off a bit keeping Gellert's erection inside his mouth while surrounding the base with his hand, moving it up and down. That was all it took for his partner, he went out with another ragged moan while Albus started to feel him coming in his mouth. He swallowed as best as he could - he wasn't practised enough but he did his best - until he felt him starting to flag and collapse against the bed again. He left himself go too, with his own, calmer, pleasure in reaction to Gellert's, feeling a bit surprised. He hadn't expected to be able to come without touch but Gellert's reactions and his long dry-spell had contributed to this response. Albus let go of Gellert's length, resting his forehead against his hip and clearing his throat - and mouth - discretely, hiding his face while waiting for the other's to recover.</p>
<hr/><p>Gellert seemed to have fallen into some kind of trance although he was still awake going from his soft caresses to Albus' hair. He recovered his whereabouts finally and he hauled Albus up from his position so they were eye-to-eye, vanishing their now uncomfortable remaining clothes with a wave of his hand. Albus didn't resist the move although he had some difficulty making eye contact with the alpha, feeling shy now and foolish because of it. </p><p>Gellert cradled his face between his hands - while he encased the rest of his body with his legs, both of them enjoying the slide of naked skin - and kissed him all around his face, pecking his nose, eyebrows, chin, ear... until Albus started to laugh at the loving gestures and raised his eyes to his. Gellert returned the smile allowing Albus to rest his forehead against his while he used his arms to hug him close to his chest.</p><p>"There you are! You can't be shy now <em>liebling</em>, no after you have given me that pleasure. I had sworn myself that I wouldn't forget that summer but it's clear that memory can still fade with time, no matter how faithfully preserved. Or maybe this bond is making all even better... I remember after the blood-vow, things also changed, didn't they?" - Gellert said, in the middle of kissing Albus in the lips. Albus, who had taken advantage of his position to cradle Gellet's face in return and explore the new facial-hair the other didn't have in the past, sighed against Gellert's lips in response.</p><p>"It did Gell, the connection made everything seem... more"- he admitted, turning his mind around this new idea. That was their relationship back, in a nutshell. The two of them had spent half of the summer bantering around each other throwing half-formed thoughts, theories and ideas and fooling around each other's bodies, sometimes with barely any time between. Sometimes actually overlapping. None of them had felt offended when the other had wandered into some mental puzzle right in the middle of things, because their minds were so similar than usually only took a few words to ensnare the other into the same enigma. Similarly, if one of them was feeling particularly driven by others... urges it was usually quite simple to get back into the mood given their high compatibility and... well teenagers hormones. The newly found alpha - omega dynamic seemed to be compensating for their older age.</p><p>"Well, we will need to explore this connection fully. We don't want to be surprised later on" - Gellert said innocently, rolling Albus on his back and settling on top of him. Albus rolled his eyes in response but allowed the movement. He was feeling more comfortable than at the beginning of the evening, now the edge of their arousal had been taken off. He still was aroused - particularly feeling Gellert, naked Gellert, flushed on top of him - and knew that the ritual wouldn't accept what they had done as the completion of the ceremony but it had taken off the worst of the haste. </p><p>"Certainly. Should we be taking notes or do you think our memory will be sufficient?" - he asked, looking up the looming alpha with wide-blue eyes, turning the innocent act back against Gellert. Gellert laughed in response, lowering his face to start to kiss Albus' neck, wholly distracted of his idea by this enchanting creature under him. </p><p>They had avoided that area before because of the significance it had for alpha - omega pairings. Albus had always felt too self-conscious about his perceived gender to allow Gellert to mimic an action which would be impossible for them. It was futile to make the mating bite in an alpha - beta pairing. It was true that some alpha-beta pairings sometimes mimicked the mating bite but Albus had always felt it a mocking gesture because it didn't really bond that couples as an alpha-omega bite did, or was as permanent as it was for those pairings. It would become a reminder of the possibility that Gellert someday would find a better mate, an omega mate.</p><p>But now, Albus bared his neck recklessly for his chosen mate, to the only alpha he had ever contemplated to submit to. Every hour of training in Occlumency, every day re-training his body so he wouldn't react to alpha's posturing or hormones, every time he researched the spells he had cast to hide. All that work had been done not because Albus didn't want to mate an alpha, but because he had already <em>found the alpha he wanted</em> and he thought him forever out of his reach. But now he had him on top of him, now he felt him around of him, smelled him again and felt his teeth softly nipping around his neck... around the area he had protected with the strongest enchantments he had ever cast. </p><p>Gellert seemed to feel something different on his neck because he was now sniffing around the area and watching his neck not with an alpha eye but a wizard one.</p><p>"You have been doing something to hide your smell, haven't you?" - he asked quietly looking him seriously into the eye. Albus nodded silently in answer, the span of the years apart feeling like a weight in his heart. He had felt so alone over the years, with his brother rejection of their family bond and the memory of their promises that summer feeling like a bruise that never healed. Gellert seemed to sense some of that in Albus' silence. - "My clever <em>liebe</em>, how have you been able not only to hide what you were but to rise in such influence in that backwards British's political scene?" - Geller asked with impressed voice.</p><p>Albus felt a smile to grow in his face for the first time when thinking about this topic. He had missed having an audience who would be able to enjoy his clever machinations.</p><p>"It was a combination of charms and potions with, as I said to Miss Goldstein, quite a bit of Occlumency. I found some interesting research, almost lost to history, in Hogwarts' Restricted Section" - he revealed modestly - "That was actually my first intention returning to the school. I haven't planned to have such a high profile position at the time and in my situation" - he confessed. Gellert nodded in thought, he had kept his hand over Albus' neck feeling the pulse under his hands.</p><p>"I heard about your appointment at Hogwarts when we were barely twenty. It seemed to me, to be a bit... hasty given our former plans" - Gellert said carefully not wanting to bring back bad memories. Albus nodded again in agreement, taking no offense.</p><p>"It wasn't what I had expected or planned, but I had already presented as an omega and I was worried of any deep scrutiny on me. Dippet had always liked me and was just too happy to offer me a position at the school. It gave me a position to keep... in touch with what was happening but hopefully protected from the Ministry's sight" - he admitted. Gellert assented still deep in thought with all the questions he had been collecting from their last meeting up to the time he had heard about Albus' imprisonment.</p><p>"How old were you when you presented as omega? I don't think that was among the paperwork that it was compiled at the Ministry" - Gellert asked. Albus blanched at the question, distracted by the mention of the Ministry's investigation.</p><p>"Compiled? You mean there is a stack of paperwork in the Ministry about me being an omega?" - he asked, feeling the first sting of humiliation again. </p><p>Like everything else wasn't bad enough now he needed to worry about every idiot who ever went to work at the Ministry coming across that information. Gellert reacted in a very alpha fashion, cradling Albus' face again bringing it to his chest to surround him with his calming essence and laying even more on top of him if possible like he wanted to protect him from even the air around them.</p><p>"Calm down <em>liebling</em>. You don't think I would leave all that information about you in that fool's hands, do you? I went through every paper at that place and destroyed it, and my people went through every Auror who interview you, ant they will have Obliviated them by now. Travers would have been the last one, he was Obliviated just after we left the room. They will know you are an omega, that is impossible to hide anymore but everything else they gathered, including the potions and charms you found, they won't be able to use against you or anyone else" - Gellert said satisfied. Albus buried his face against Gellert's chest feeling tears to relief threatening to overflow his eyes. Gellert gave him time to gather himself before he asked again.</p><p>"How old were you Al?" - he asked softly. Albus sighed in response.</p><p>"I was... eighteen" - he admitted quietly. Gellert's breath got caught at his throat in surprise. </p><p>"Eighteen?" - he asked shocked. He had expected a longer time from when he had left. Now, seeing Albus' reaction he seemed to sense something was amiss - "What was the date, Albus? I know you remember it" - he pressed. Albus admitted defeat.</p><p>"July 1th 1900" - he said out loud with his face still pressed against Gellert's chest so he didn't have to see his reaction.</p><p>"July first" - Gellert repeated numbly. Albus knew how he felt, he had gone through the same, that fateful day when he realized he was presenting just a year after having met his chosen mate. It was another legend, even older than the Hallows. The legend of the soulmates who were made for each other so the omega had only presented for his soulmate, a year after their first meeting. It was considered a bit of romantic drivel for most, even purebloods, but still was told by mothers to their children. At the time, for Albus, the coincidence in dates had only been another knife driven through him. </p><p>Gellert, dreamer Gellert who loved legends and any visible sign of their special bond, had recovered from the shock and he raised his head from his chest to look at him.</p><p>"<em>Liebe, liebe</em> I can't imagine how difficult that must have been for you. I can't take that pain away, but we are together now and I am going to make up for every minute of pain you went through with pleasure. Will you let me?" - Gellert asked sensually, using every asset he had to drive Albus crazy. Albus nodded in response.</p><p>"I would like that, love. But you don't have to 'compensate' or 'make up' for that. We both hold blame on our parting, that was what made it so painful, I knew I could have made different choices" - Albus admitted. Gellert shuddered at the endearment, that Albus hadn't used until now, and he lowered his head until their lips were close and he brushed his lips in the softest kiss Albus had ever received. </p><p>"Then we will forget blame for that at least, and we will revisit all this later. But now I want to love you truly, and consummate this bond until no force in this earth can tear us apart" - Gellert said passionately. Albus had barely assented his consent when Gellert started to kiss him again, this time as deep as he could, pushing in his tongue and mapping every crevice of Albus' mouth.</p><p>Albus could only submit to Gellert's passion. Their previous encounter had been led by Albus, but now Gellert was taking the lead and he was giving no quarter. While his mouth was mapping Albus, his hands once again were wandering over Albus' body taking advantage of his position over the slighter man to caress all the expanse of Albus' chest and arms. Even his legs seemed to want to join the action, with Gellert pressing his right knee between Albus' legs giving his renewed erection a point of friction to push against.</p><p>Even submitting to Gellert's passion, Albus didn't stay idle. He put his tongue to better use than usual, pressing and battling Gellert's. He pressed his hands to Gellert's back, dragging his nails down the broad expanse. He raised his right leg around Gellert's hip and pressed him down his body in a try to make more friction in their lower bodies. Also, his omega nature was brought to fore, and he could feel himself dripping with the desire Gellert brought in him. That would be very different from their previous couplings where Gellert had needed to prepare him thoughtfully for their joining. </p><p>Gellert's thoughts were, as always, in sync with his because he brought one of his hands down Albus' back until he touched the slick place which was getting ready for him.</p><p>"This is new" - he said wickedly, his good mood fully restored at the sign of Albus' pleasure. Albus nipped his neck in retaliation but let out a moan at the single finger testing his opening. Gellert's smile turned even more roguish while he continued with his exploration with both his finger and his mouth to Albus' neck. He seemed focused on bothering the area below Albus' chin while he started to stretch Albus first with a finger, quickly progressing to two. Albus had lost any coherent line of thought unable to concentrate in anything but the pressure <em>there</em>. Gellert had progressed by now to scissoring, apparently pleased by the omega physiognomy which made this easier for both of them and he let Abus know between kissing and biting his neck.</p><p>"This is beautiful <em>liebling</em> [...] you feel so warm and slick, you can't hide now how much you want me [...] we are going to enjoy this so much, take advantage of your responsiveness every chance we got [...] I am going to get inside you and stay there until you grow slick again for me and we are going to do this again and again until we can't [...] move again" - Gellert purred against Albus' skin. Albus gasped and moaned and was a total mess. His long abstinence had made him as tight as he had been when they first met and Gellert was also enjoying this proof of his fidelity. - "You haven't allowed anyone else here at all, have you <em>liebe</em>? You are as tight as you were that first time" - Gellert whispered raising his mouth to Albus' ear like he was asking a secret while he took his hand away and poised above Albus to finally enter him. Albus moaned an assent denying with his head at the same time. Gellert laughed softly, touching the opening but without pushing - "What is it <em>schatz</em>? Yes or no?" - he asked again almost as he didn't dare to ask. Albus' teary eyes locked gazes with the blue-brown gaze and Gellert had his answer even before he spoke.</p><p>"Of course I haven't. Don't flatter yourself that had anything to do with you" - he warned darkly at Gellert's smug smile - "You probably got a good laugh while you were sleeping your way around your acolytes and followers and whoever else all over the Continent. But I couldn't risk..." - he said, torn between the pleasure of his body and the pain in his heart. Gellert froze minutely at the confirmation not only that Albus hadn't allowed anyone else to take him, but he hadn't slept with anyone else at all. And then he pushed inside, unable to resist another minute after that confession. He had been ready to go slow and easy, but he hadn't been ready for Albus' much more accommodative body despite the stretching he had already done so he went straight in until Albus felt he had never been so full.</p><p>The two of them gasped at the sensation and Abus put both of his hand at Gellert's back, sinking his nails at the sensation. Gellert had buried his face in Albus' neck and he could feel his breath on his skin. After a few moments getting used to the feeling, Albus raised his legs around Gellert's hips and nudged him to continue while he raised his head to his and whispered against his lips.</p><p>"I am fine, I am more than fine and ready, please <em>love</em> move!" - he said hoarsely.</p><p>That seemed to spur Gellert into movement and the alpha started a gentle pace which swiftly progressed into a quicker movement when Albus' body accepted him freely and Albus' words spurred him on.</p><p>"Gell! please! harder!" - he moaned incoherently, at times asking for faster and other pleading him to never stop - "Yes! There, please love, just like that!"- he asked brokenly when Gellert hit that particular place which made him see stars. Gellert's pace seemed to stutter and Albus was certain he was close so he put his hand on his own length wanting to come as close as he could with the other. Gellert, however, had other ideas because he used his hands to grab Albus' and put the omega's arms above his head while he continued pounding into him. Albus whined softly at this but he changed it into a moan when Gellert's mouth searched his neck again. This time he could feel Gellert's teeth brushing his skin, looking for that place. Albus bared his neck again to his mate while he searched for Gellert's own neck, all his instincts asking him to bite him in return. Gellert's pleased growl was almost too low to register by Albus' ears but he could feel it vibrating in the chest above him.</p><p>Just at the moment when Gellert's hips locked into place and Albus could feel his own member erupting in pleasure, both of them bite the other in the neck, closing the circuit and making the world explode and dissolve.</p><p>Then Albus did something so archetypal omega that he would be later ashamed to remember it and fainted.</p>
<hr/>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A long waited conversation is had. Albus and Gellert hashed out what has kept them apart all those years.<br/>Also, Albus has a sweet-tooth. That's canon.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>For some reason I am comparing Albus' sweet tooth to L in Death Note? I have the idea that Albus' brilliant mind and huge magic is responsible for his wish to eat sweets in a similar way to the manga. I find it a bit hilarious really. This is a lot of conversation and Albus and Gellert trying to come to terms with thirty years apart. I hope I have made justice to the two of them, and that I have been able to write a way for the two of them to work together without any of them looking too out of character, specially Albus. Let me know what you think?</p>
<p>Also, this is unbetaed. Please, feel free to send any corrections if you wish. Always happy to improve.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gellert woke up gradually, feeling like he was a cloud floating down to earth. He was surprised at the feeling because he was usually a very light sleeper, even worse when he was awakened by his Sight. </p>
<p>Once he was aware of his surroundings, he realized he was being weighed down by something... or someone. He felt someone's head on his shoulder, their body flush to his side and one of their legs over Gellert's hip. Whoever it was, they were using Gellert as some kind of pillow or teddy bear - one of their arms were spread over his chest.  </p>
<p>Gellert felt rage at the daring of this unknown person - Abernaty? - The thought of one of his acolytes daring to violate his sanctuary while he was sleeping and slip with him into his bed... He had never allowed one of his infrequent - no matter the rumours - bedmates to stay the night. That privilege he wanted to share it only with one companion, his only equal...</p>
<p>But rage quickly faded from his mind when he opened his eyes to the wonderful sight of a redhead resting against him and started to remember the day before and the pleasures he had started to fear he would never feel again. His lax arms rose carefully around the smaller man's body cradling him against his chest like he could become one with him. He finally focused his eyes on the most beautiful sight he had ever seen: Albus' sleeping face resting against his chest with his right-hand hazardless thrown over his chest, resting against Gellert's heart. A heart he could feel was quickly speeding up at the sight. </p>
<p>Gellert raised his left hand towards the one resting on his chest and carefully intertwined his fingers with the other's, similarly to the way they had done when they had made their vow. Speaking of vows... even as focused as he had been in Albus last night, he had noticed the long-chain dangling from Albus' neck with their pact at the end of it. Travers had been particularly enraged at being unable to get a hold of it. Apparently, his brilliant mate had taken advantage of the nature of the blood-artefact and enchanted it so only those who shared blood with it could handle it. He felt almost embarrassed about not having thought of doing something similar to avoid having it lifted by that creature of Scamander. </p>
<p>The chain was now hanging from Albus' neck while the pendant was resting on Gellert's chest. He swore he could feel it pulsing warmly at their renewed relationship, warmer than it had ever been since they parted ways. Gellert had always loved symbology - the Hallows had attracted him from the start for the idea they represented, even before he believed their story to be real - and he had been bitterly disappointed when he had noticed the theft. The thought of Albus trying to break it had scared in more than one level.  </p>
<p>"I couldn't have broken it" - Albus said softly with his eyes still closed. Gellert looked down to him surprised.</p>
<p>"Are you reading my mind?" - he asked checking his shields. He had been keeping strong shields for a while particularly since he had a natural Legilimens so close.</p>
<p>"No need. You are caressing the chain at my nape" - Albus pointed out. Gellert froze the movement of his right hand which had been surrounding Albus' shoulders and indeed caressing the pact's chain. Albus snuggled even closer to Gellert and sighed - "And then you grabbed it, it wasn't a difficult guess" - Albus said - "I enchanted it so it couldn't be stolen from me, as it had from you. I was worried what the Ministry would try to get a hold of it. But I didn't even try to break it. It was the only thing I had from you, I didn't want anyone else trying to destroy it now they had been made aware of it" - Albus admitted. </p>
<p>Gellert raised their interlaced fingers to his mouth and kissed Albus' palm. Albus' fingers flexed slightly and cradled Gellert's face after the loving gesture. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Gellert kissing Albus' fingers to his wrist where he could feel his pulse and Albus caressing Gellert's face wherever he could reach. Finally, Albus firmed his hold in Gellert's face to immobilize him while he raised slightly and put his mouth to his in a warm good-morning kiss. Then he lowered his face again, this time curling up under Gellert's chin.</p>
<p>"We are going to need to get out of the bed, aren't we?" - he asked softly. Gellert smiled at the words and the unconscious gesture of nestling. It was... and he wouldn't admit this out loud for fear of his life... <em>adorable</em>. He kissed the conveniently placed forehead within reach and answered.</p>
<p>"We are awake" - he laughed at the retaliation bite - "Ouch! <em>kleiner!</em> you are vicious! We need to rise and feed you before you get worse" - Albus' stomach chose that moment to wake up and Gellert was immediately serious again and raising from the bed - "We really need to feed you. I don't trust the care you were given by that... <em>arschgeige!</em>" - Gellert exclaimed irritated. As beneficial as it had for him, he still couldn't let go of his rage to the British Ministry, particularly Travers, and their presumption to incarcerate Albus.</p>
<p>Picking up his wand he walked to his dresser and used a mixture of magic and hand to get quickly dressed in his usual black, military-style clothes. He called out his personal house-elf Vabky and asked ordered him to bring them food. Then he turned back to his husband. </p>
<p>He didn't miss Albus' attentive gaze while he leaned against the bed's headboard raising the bed sheets to his waist but not bothering with any other cover. He looked... edible. Gellert couldn't help his interested gaze drifting up and down while he examined Albus' fit upper half. Despite the professor persona Albus had been cultivating those past years, he had clearly kept fit. Gellert could imagine the amount of student crushes Albus must navigate every year and he felt another wave of rage thinking of the Scamander boy who had been - so <em>obediently</em> - following Albus' instructions even after he had been expelled from the school. He wondered how big Albus' army of potential contacts was and if they would keep loyal to him in his new circumstances. </p>
<p>And how many of them had fantasized about their DADA teacher. </p>
<p>"I am not sure I should accept any food you give me with that face on" - Albus commented lightly. Gellert returned to the present and forced his face to smooth. The reminder of Albus' lack of other partners that he had confirmed the day before helped him to keep his focus on the present. </p>
<p>"I was thinking what mess may be waiting for us once we get out of here. Some of my followers lack... the ability to improvise without supervision" - Gellert extemporized, although now he thought about it he was starting to feel worried. Vinda would keep them in line if necessary but, even with all her competence, she lacked the brilliance needed to really lead them. And some of them were dangerous if they were left without a goal for too long. </p>
<p>Albus seemed to read between lines at his words and his face took that thoughtful - scheming, some would say, starting with certain <em>brother</em> of Albus - look Gellert remembered so well.  </p>
<p>"There were only six of your followers at the ceremony, but you must have employed many of them getting the whole act ready, not more of them between the Aurors... you wouldn't have wanted to risk the attention of one of them getting caught. But among the staff and clerical positions, and they would have vanished from there the moment we left. That was the people we met yesterday at the hall. There is going to be a lot of people missing and confused today. The Ministry is going to tighten the security of their personal with the confirmation of this intrusion, and it will be another blow to have all those people disappearing at once" - Albus reasoned out loud, his quick mind quickly making the connections and following Gellert's plans like he had been there, making them with him. Before Gellert could act in his half-formed plan of pouncing on Albus, the elf appeared again with the food.</p>
<p>"Master Gellert, your food is here. Vabky has taken all the favourites as you asked" - the house-elf announced respectfully. With a click of his fingers, the table at the nook with views to the mountains was set up and full of every tempting food Gellert could think of. With a regretful sigh, Gellert crossed the room towards another wardrobe, opposite to the one he had used before, and opened it while saying over his shoulder. </p>
<p>"Thank you Vabky, you have been very helpful. We will be enjoying this now, I will call you back when I need you. But before you leave, let me introduce you to my mate and bonded husband, Albus Dumbledore. You will serve him as you serve me, as will the rest of the servants here, pass the word along" - Gellert said while he took out a dressing gown from the closet. It was a beautiful dark blue - warm and cosy - and Gellert would never admit he had been thinking of Albus and his English tendency to get cold in barely under zero temperatures  when he first saw it.  </p>
<p>He turned back to the bed and offered the garment to his bonded with a flourish. Albus blushed but he rose from the bed and stepped into Gellert's open arms which encased him in the beautiful robe, closing it with the belt. The former professor caressed the fabric with relish and a muttered thanks, giving Gellert a chaste kiss in the lips before he turned to the patient house-elf. </p>
<p>"It is nice to meet you Vabky, and thank you so much for bringing breakfast. I haven't eaten more than a few pieces of bread and some tea for weeks now" - Albus said gratefully to the elf while walking towards the amazing spread. The elf seemed happy - and scandalized - at the wizard's words.</p>
<p>"Vabky will be happy to bring food for the Master wizard and Master's Bonded! No Master's bonded will be hungry with Vabky" - he exclaimed - "Vabky is going now, Masters be eating!" - he concluded before he popped out from the room. </p>
<p>Albus laughed while he took a seat in the table.</p>
<p>"Well, that is an order I don't have any problems to follow. This food looks amazing Gellert" - Albus exclaimed happily while he started to choose every sugar-filled food he could find within his reach. And, of course, he poured a hot cup of tea he started to drink immediately with a satisfying sigh. </p>
<p>Gellert took his seat right next to Albus and picked up his own cup of coffee, ignoring the <em>barbarian</em> muttered by his companion. He opened a Kaisersemmel in half and spread some cheese and Schwarzwaelderschinken on both sides, suddenly realizing he was starving too. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this hungry.</p>
<p>"Oh! Merlin, don't tell me this is..." - Albus grabbed for the sinful dark-chocolate fantasy.</p>
<p>"Prinzregententorte <em>liebe</em>. I told you I would feed you the best one, sometime. Vabky is <em>completely</em> traditional when he makes it" - Gellert teased. Given the sound that Albus made when he took the first bite, Gellert was quickly losing all interest in the food before him. </p>
<p>"It's..." - Albus trailed off, taking another bite helplessly - "I fear you don't need to use anything but this to join people to this cause, Gellert" - the wizard declared. Gellert smiled predatorily closing the distance between them and taking charge of the spoon in Albus' hand.</p>
<p>"Well, I don't give... this cake to every potential follower I have" - he purred picking another spoonful of the cake and offering to Albus' mouth. Albus looked between him and the spoon, clearly wondering at the double entendre, he closed his lips in the spoon closing his eyes again in pleasure. Gellert couldn't help himself anymore, once the spoon was out of Albus' mouth - and he chased with his tongue every bit of chocolate - he closed his own mouth over the others' chasing the flavour with his tongue. </p>
<p>Albus not only yielded to his kiss but he placed his arms around Gellert's neck keeping him close. They stayed like that, chasing the chocolate flavour from each other's tongues until they needed to come up for air. Albus seemed to fight for composure, taking another sip of his tea. </p>
<p>"We should finish this wonderful breakfast love, and we need to talk. As much as I would love to drag you back to that bed" - Albus finally said when he was able to talk again. Still, he showed himself as unable as Gellert to keep any kind of distance between them, when he took advantage of Gellert's closer position to pick up his left hand with his and put it in his lap, caressing the knuckles absently.</p>
<p>"You are right <em>liebling</em>" - Gellert sighed. He kept his left hand in Albus' grasp, absently returning the caresses with a <em>mostly</em> chaste caresses in return of Albus' knee and sometimes the inner thigh, too low to be considered too risky but intimate nevertheless taking into account the lack of clothes Albus had bellow the dressing gown. </p>
<p>He returned his focus to the food before him, willing to wait if that gave Albus the much-needed substance he had been missing all those weeks.</p><hr/>
<p>Feeling too full to eat another bite, and resisting the impulse to finish the almost too wonderful chocolate cake in front of him, Albus placed his spoon on the plate before him and picked up his cup of tea with a sigh. Gellert smiled next to him, nursing his own coffee.</p>
<p>"Are you finished <em>liebling</em>? The treatment that Ministry of yours gives to civilians who haven't even been tried of a crime is criminal. And they call me Dark Lord, I will enjoy teaching them a few lessons in justice" - Gellert said darkly. </p>
<p>Albus would have liked to have a defence of the British Ministry, aware that there was some decent people working there and not everyone was like Travers, but the indifference and passivity he had found over the last month had brought to mind the reasons he and Gellert had started their plans of conquest so long ago. </p>
<p>"I am finished, the food was wonderful and I am now all too full" - Albus admitted with a sheepish smile. Gellert waved his wand towards the table vanishing all there except for the tea and coffee. He rose from his seat and offered a hand to Albus.</p>
<p>Albus took the offered hand and followed him to the window seat with the wonderful sight of the Alps. Gellert sat at the cosy settee, drawing Albus next to him, almost to his lap, without any resistance from the omega wizard. Albus cuddled against the taller wizard without any shame, sensing the following conversation would be as important to their future as their last fight had been. </p>
<p>Gellert's alpha instincts seemed to be fully raised again because he hugged the other wizard to his chest, cradling Albus' head to him and trying to scent him completely with his own pheromones. Albus' unresisting attitude seemed to soothe the other man enough for Gellert to start talking again.</p>
<p>"That Travers is a piece of work Al, I don't understand how he can have risen as he has in your Ministry. He is corrupt, cowardly and incompetent" - Gellert started, his voice as angry as his words. Albus sighed against Gellert's neck, taking a deep breath absorbing Gellert's smell to calm himself before he talked.</p>
<p>"He has risen in the Ministry because he is corrupt, cowardly and incompetent Gellert. You know this and you have used this to your own ends in the past. It has been my experience that the British Ministry, as it happens in many others, balance between two main states: when the Minister is a competent person who has risen there by their own merits, they build around them an circle of competent people. However, when the Minister raise to their place by influence and connections, usually an incompetent individual placed there by other people's interests, they build a Ministry full of corruption, incompetency and back-stabbing politics. Our current Minister, Fawley... the best you can call him is incompetent, his negative to act has allowed people like Travers to grow and take the law in their own hands" - Albus observed, his voice irritated although he tried to keep calm burrowing into Gellert's neck. The blonde wizard kept his hands gentle on the other's back, listening to his words. </p>
<p>"You should be Minister Albus. I know some of your friends and allies have asked you this" - Gellert observed. Albus denied with his head almost violently.</p>
<p>"I can't be trusted with power Gellert. I have shown very poor judgement to be trust into this position. And I would have been forced to confront you if I had decided to become the Minister if you have forgotten" - Albus said, placing a bit of space between them and looking up to the mismatched gaze locked in him. Gellert rose an unimpressed eyebrow at his words.</p>
<p>"That is your brother talking Albus. You would be a better option than any of those fools who are currently on office. You haven't 'shown bad judgement'" - Albus could almost heard the quotes in Gellert's voice - "Your goal has always been the protection of our world and its people. You have done this, even from your position as Professor at your beloved school. No one else has even come as close as you - and your agents - to disturb my plans in the past year and that is taking the blood-vow into account! And if you were the Minister I wouldn't have to care about the British Ministry at all, I would have let you be. As it is I have never planned to bother with Britain knowing you were there keeping an eye on things" - Gellert observed, a dark tone in his voice when he mentioned 'agents', softening when he named the vow and Albus' influence in British policies. His hand, in the meantime, was ever gentle on Albus' body. Albus eyes lowered, conflicted now they were finally talking of their goals.</p>
<p>"I have tried to keep the Ministry in order and keep an eye on things without involving myself fully, out of the temptation of a place of power. But I have kept an eye on you too Gellert, and I can't approve of your objectives with Muggles, I can't. I know what we planned years ago as youths. But I have been teaching for years now, I have met many muggle-born students with loving families. I have even met some of those families. Regardless of what happened to my family... to Ariana" - Albus' voice faltered there and Gellert's own hand interlaced with his in comfort, Albus kept talking even more softly -"What happened to Ariana was horrible yes, but we can't make every Muggle pay for the actions of a few..." - Gellert nodded to Albus' words calmly, like he was expecting them.</p>
<p>"And if it wasn't 'a few'? How much pain and destruction should we accept before we have the right to fight back?" - Gellert asked. Albus looked taken aback at Gellert's rational response. He frowned in response.</p>
<p>"Newt and Tina talked of a Vision you showed them at the rally. Something about a new War and a weapon so terrible we can't yet conceive it. Massive destruction and rows of prisoners" - Albus said slowly, remembering. Gellert nodded, looking pleased. </p>
<p>"I am glad your spies reported my words to you so faithfully. I have Seen it Al! So much death at the hands of those Muggles, they will kill their own people equally as ours, I gave them that. Their so-called science is growing every day and they are using it to build destruction without control" - Gellert said passionately, reminding Albus of the boy he had been so long ago. </p>
<p>He had though when Newt had related him about Gellert's Vision - or, admittedly, wished to believe - that the Dark Wizard had corrupted his Gift and shown a distorted version of one if his visions to sway people to his side. Hearing the other wizard in person, despite all his own experience spotting lies and distortions, he was forced to admit the possibility that Gellert was telling the truth - as he knew it - of the future. There was still the strong possibility that he had misunderstood what he saw - Divination was a very inexact field after all - but Albus was convinced enough by his words - and his own observations over the last few years - to believe that another War was at the horizon. The consequences of another War didn't bare thinking.</p>
<p>The possibility of another War happening with people like Travers and Fawley at the helm made Albus to almost curse out loud. Gellert, who had clearly followed Albus' train of thought without any problem, nodded in response like he had talked out loud.  </p>
<p>"Your so-called leaders will be less than useless against this threat. The first War was bad enough for our World. We became involved without any reason, losing so many good wizards and witches in that senseless fight. And now the Muggles will drive us again into their violent conflict, killing our kind again, like they were purposely trying to drive us to extinction" - Gellert said persuasively, rising from his seat and walking around moving his hand expressively like he couldn't contain himself. </p>
<p>Albus felt his heart his heart picking up at Gellert's passionate arguments. This was what he feared the most in his darkest dreams, he knew that confronted with the man he loved above all, with his clever mind and cleverer arguments, he wouldn't be able to muster any real resistance. He tried to argue regardless, looking for a different conclusion to Gellert's Vision.  </p>
<p>"They don't know about us. They would be fighting too and losing people in the same way as us. You can't think this is a conspiracy to kill our world" - he argued. Gellert dismissed this with a wave of his hand.</p>
<p>"There are millions of them Al! They don't care about losing a few of those in a war or twenty. It's not the same loss for them than it is for us. Their leaders know about us, after all" - Gellert said walking back to Albus' side, picking up his hands again. - "This weapon I Saw Albus, it is a terrible force for destruction, and it doesn't distinguish Magic and non-Magic. It won't care for wards if it falls into a Wizard community, it will destroy it. We don't have any defence against it right now" - Gellert had kneeled before the other wizard with Albus' hands between his.</p>
<p>"Why are you telling me this Gellert? Your Visions will come true regardless what we do, don't they? We can't change that, that is how your Sight works. The only hope we have it's that you have misunderstood any part of it or to change that you haven't Seen" - Albus asked, remembering Gellert's explanations from long ago. Gellert nodded immediately, having been waiting for Albus' question.</p>
<p>"I need you to believe me Albus. I need you at my side helping me to save us. All the plans we made years ago, I have used as the core of my movement. But things are changed and the world is not the same as we knew thirty years ago, there are so many other things we need to take into account" - Gellert said looking Albus into the eye, like he was trying to convince him of his sincerity -"I need your mind Albus. You are the most brilliant mind of our generation. Even more than me" - he said without pride or humility -"I need your contacts, the network you have created over the last thirty years" - Gellert continued honestly - "And I need your heart in this. I know that with you by my side, if you are convinced that this is the right course to take, we will be able to save our world" - Gellert concluded leaving Albus breathless at his declaration.</p>
<p>Albus tried to order his thoughts. He hadn't expected the approach Gellert had taken in this. He had expected the typical spiel, the arguments he had heard repeated by Gellert's followers: Muggles were violent, inferior, a danger for wizards and for the Wizardly World. Albus needed to join to Gellert so the both of them could rule their world and destroy all the threats. </p>
<p>Gellert had, however, taken a different approach. It may be that he knew Albus as well as Albus knew Gellert. Or he may genuinely wanted - <em>needed?</em> Albus' help. He wasn't sure what scared him the most.</p>
<p>He hadn't bothered with theoretical threats or potential problems, he had chosen a very imminent future with very clear consequences. A new War as devastating as the previous one. The Wizardly World once again being swept into the violence of the conflict. The loss of their kind when there was so few of them already.<br/>
Albus looked down to Gellert kneeling form, his mind buzzing with the arguments and images Gellert's words had planted in him. He looked into that mismatched gaze, seeing not a mindless, crazy visionary as he had feared his old friend had become, but the ruthless brilliancy he had know that summer thirty years ago. Gellert wasn't known for being kind or compassionate, but Albus couldn't see any sign of his having succumbed to the Dark Arts as he had feared, he genuinely believed in this threat, he wanted to save them. Something of his thoughts must have been visible in his face because Gellert's face turned fond and warm.</p>
<p>"<em>Liebe</em> , I won't lie you because I want you with me fully and aware of what you choose. I don't care for Muggles, for their destructive science and technology, for their mindless hate for everything they can't control or don't understand, like... like Ariana" - Gellert said softly, his voice almost dropping to a whisper with Ariana's name. Albus felt his breath caught at his throat - "We need to work together to stop their threat to our world, to build our society anew, a Wizardly World which will keep us safe and help us to build the future" - the blond wizard concluded. </p>
<p>Albus felt like time had stopped, waiting for his answer. He felt, whatever he would say now would shape not only his future, but all of them. But there was just one answer he felt he could give to this wizard, to his husband, his mate, his alpha.</p>
<p>"I am listening" - Albus said looking down to the greatest Dark Lord of their age.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>For inspiration, and let me tell you I have waited a whole life to say this :D Isaac Asimov gave me the inspiration for Gellert's argument of the Muggles lack of care for dying because they (we really :D) are so many. This idea is taken from his books about Spaces which - for those who doesn't know - are an evolution of the human race which conquers the stars. They are few, dependents on robots' labour, grow long-lived, without any sickness, supposedly superior to Earthpeople in their minds. When the second wave of humans from Earth conquer the space they feel threatened because there are a lot more of them, they are shorter lived and one of the Spacers gave the argument that they value their lives less because they are more and have a lot of less to lose. I have read similar arguments in similar situations (elves vs humans, etc) but for me Asimov is the original inspiration of this idea. (the one who gave me this idea in the first place I mean, I can't argue where or when it's originated. As far as I know, maybe Asimov was inspired elsewhere)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Negotiations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Gellert and Albus try to find some common ground</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have done my best to explain Credence's origins. Let me know what you think of my theory!<br/>Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments, I am so happy for the positive response I have been getting in this :D I have a lot of ideas for this pairing, but I would like to gove this story some closure once Gellert and Albus manage to negociate a good detente :D and maybe write then a sequel where they took over the Ministry. Or maybe just get some payback from Travers.</p>
<p>Unbetaed, all mistakes are all mine :(</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gellert felt like his heart would explode with delight at Albus' statement. He felt like he had been holding his breath for thirty years waiting for this moment. From the very instant Ariana's body had hit the ground that dark day to this one where Albus accepted to consider his offer, he had feared he had lost the other man forever and the despair of the though had accompanied him every day. Until Albus said that harmless words. But Albus was giving him a second chance and he wouldn't waste it for the world. </p>
<p>Rising from his kneeling position before the omega he offered his hand to the other wizard. Albus took it and Gellert used it to draw him into his arms immediately, burying his face in his mate's neck. He breathed deeply taking in Albus' scent while he tried to slow his wildly racing heart.</p>
<p>Albus placed his arms around him, hugging him close and speaking softly into his ear.</p>
<p>"We are together now Gell, whatever you have Seen we will confront it together. I was afraid that you had changed too much from the boy I met at Godric's Hollow. That you had immersed so much into the Dark Arts that nothing was left of the man I love. When I heard about Paris... it gave truth to my fears but also... it gave me hope Gellert" - Albus said in an even voice. </p>
<p>Gellert felt his body relax and his heart slow at the omega shameless use of his Voice - and special tone of voice all omegas had to calm their mates, or sometimes even other Alphas - and pheromones to calm him. Albus words were calm and rational, appealing to Gellert's mind. He wasn't bothering to hide how he was taking advantage of the fact he was Gellert's omega to soothe him. Gellert felt a frisson of pleasure at the proof that their bond was strong and his mate was accepting of it. While sometimes, in times of great distress, omegas were able to reach strange alphas to keep them calm - and away from them - it normally only work between truly bonded pairs.</p>
<p>Feeling calmer and more confident - Albus declarations of loyalty hadn't gone unnoticed - Gellert let go of Albus keeping just hold of his hand and looking down to him.</p>
<p>"Paris? What do you mean?" - Gellert asked, trying to understand why his mate would feel so contradictory feelings after that fiasco. He admitted he had been impulsive - and a bit childish. He wondered what his mate had concluded about that day - or the reports he had been given on it.</p>
<p>"Newt and Tina gave me their memories of that night Gellert. I had two days before Travers returned to take me away into the Ministry - that was the time he needed to pass the law - and I was able to see the Vision you shared with those people and the words you said there" - Albus said, his voice guarded. Gellert squeezed his hand in encouragement for him to continue - "Did you mean what you say, Gellert? Or was it only a few arguments you feel would convince your audience? Do you fight for love?" - Abus asked in a low voice as he could barely dare to say the words. </p>
<p>Gellert looked firmly into that clear blue gaze, ensnared by this powerful wizard the same way he had when he had been barely seventeen. No matter what Albus believed about himself, Gellert knew this wizard was pure-hearted and brilliant, Aberforth's jealous commentary aside. And Gellert would never let him go again now they were together again.</p>
<p>"Yes" - he said - "Every day since I started this, from the moment we met at Godric's Hollow to yesterday when I took you out from the British Ministry, I have fought to make a world where we -and people like us - could be together, safe and happy" - Gellert said firmly - "We are two sides of the same soul Al. I have Seen how happy we can be together and how much good we can do for the Wizardly World. I have one of the Hallows, we can find the rest together" - Gellert said intensely. </p>
<p>He saw Albus' gaze straying to his arm, where he hid his wand and he took out the Elder Wand with a small flourish and a grin. He presented it to his mate, in a show of pride and trust. Albus took it gently and passed his clever fingers over the strange form of the wand. Gellert had to suppress his reaction, the touch felt... <em>intimate</em>. Albus smiled wickedly like he could sense his reaction. He asked still caressing the Elder wood.</p>
<p>"You got it from Gregorovitch?" - he spoke with certainty.</p>
<p>"So you heard about his claims too?" - Gellert asked with a pleased smile. Albus nodded thoughtfully, before returning the Wand to Gellert as easily as he hadn't been holding the most powerful wand in existence - and Gellert's main defence.</p>
<p>"I heard the rumours for a while and then, nothing. He was foolishly attracting attention to himself and then... he suddenly stopped. I didn't know if he didn't have it in the first place or if it had gotten stolen. When I started to hear rumours of your deeds and some people described a strange Wand in your possession, so unlikely of the one I remembered, I suspected that you have managed to get hold of the Elder Wand" - Albus explained easily - "Is this your plan then? To join the Hallows? Do you think that will give us the strength to avoid this war you have Seen? To protect the Wizardly World? Becoming the Master of Death? What that even means if you become it?" - Albus asked steadily, visibly trying to keep an open mind. The two of them had argued about that concept endlessly when younger, but Albus had grown since then, become a scholar and learnt all kinds of magic and legends. Even if he now had a proof of the Hallows being true and not a fairy tale, it still didn't prove what would happen if you joined all.</p>
<p>Gellert smiled at his professor-like attitude. Of all the rumours he had heard of Albus' actions, that was the one he hadn't been surprised to hear. How <em>young</em> he had been when he became one, yes. But not the fact he had. His brilliant mate had always been a scholar at heart. Always researching, always trying to find new things and looking beyond what it had been done already.</p>
<p>"We would become the Masters of Death, <em>liebling</em>, together. It needs to be both of us, I have Seen many different futures, Albus. I have seen a grey cell, dark and lonely. I have seen you fall from a tall tower, already dead. I have seen a serpent-looking man with the Wand, attacking Hogwarts. I can't see every future but I have seen us together in many of them and separated in many others. And it is in those we are together where the world is changed. Where we stop this downward spiral of stagnation which has taken over our world and doomed us to our ends. It won't happen tomorrow, not even this century, but if we don't stop this now, we will live to see the unequivocal signs of the end. The death of our World at the hands of the Muggles, by their science and their weapons" - Gellert explained. Albus nodded in response but looked still doubtful.</p>
<p>"How will the Hallows help us to stop this? If what you say is true, and I can't deny some of the Muggles inventions and discoveries are starting to become more and more dangerous for the keeping of our secrecy, how will an unbeatable wand, a stone to bring the shadows of the dead back and a cloak of invisibility will be able to turn back the tide? I know we dreamt with them when we were younger, but I don't think either of us thought beyond the glory and the mysticism of the title" - Albus observed, he then hesitated but continued in low voice - "I know what I would want with the stone and I don't know if I should be trusted with it" - Albus said, his gaze low. </p>
<p>Gellert denied with his head in response. </p>
<p>"You sell yourself short. I know you wouldn't do anything with the stone to put any of us in danger. No one could blame you if you used it to bring yourself a bit of peace Albus. But you are right, neither of the Hallows powers by themselves, not even the Wand, would give us what we need to change things in the Wizardly World. I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure out their use, in every Vision I see with us together, we have them, so I know they are important" - Gellert had parted again from Albus' arms and he led him by his hand to one of the side-doors in the bedroom. </p>
<p>After a small gesture of his hand, he opened the wards into the room and then opened the door. They entered a large study, richly decorated in earth tones and Gellert led the two of them to a wide desk next to the windows where he sat into a trone-like chair dragging Albus into his lap and surrounding him with his arms. Albus allowed the arrangement, caressing the embracing arms with delicate fingers, looking around interested.       </p>
<p>"Is this your lair, oh Dark Lord? Have you brought me here to submit me to your dark rituals?" - Albus asked, in a teasing tone, leaning back against the alpha chest. Gellert bit the tempting neck next to his mouth in retaliation, causing the omega to laugh. </p>
<p>"You'll need to wait and see <em>liebling</em>. But I didn't bring you here now for that, so you are safe for a bit longer" - Gellert smiled amused. He then waved a hand towards one of the closets to open it and float a Pensieve to the desk before them. Albus looked interested at the artefact, looking back to Gellert in question when it halted before them.</p>
<p>Gellert nodded to the stone basin and said.</p>
<p>"You have asked me to explain to you my reasons and tell you of my plans. And I will do this Albus. But I didn't lie to you when I told you I needed your mind. Together, we can go through my visions and my memories. I know how brilliant you are Albus, I know together we can find a way" - Gellert explained. Albus nodded interested looking again to the basin expectantly.</p>
<p>Gellert put his wand to his head and took out the first memory, placing it into the Pensieve. Keeping his arms around Albus, the two of them leaned into the bowl to look into it, disappearing into the memory of Gellert's first Vision, twenty-seven years ago.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Albus walked out into the balcony and looked, entranced, at the castle's beautiful views. After the long session viewing Gellert's memories and visions, the two of them had agreed to take a break while Albus tried to absorb all the new information. Gellert also needed a small rest, seeing his memories with Albus - and answering Albus' questions - had been as enlightening as he had expected. The other wizard had been full of inquiries, plots and theories, particularly when watching Gellert's Visions. Gellert Sight was, as it was usual with Seers, open to interpretation. Seers were limited in what they saw and interpretation of a Seer's Vision was always difficult to accomplish - the reason there were thousands of books written about it. </p>
<p>Now walking out of the study into the balcony and watching Albus' reaction, Gellert could admit to himself, that the other's wizards reactions and tastes had been very present when he chose the location of this place and created the fortress. There was something of Hogwarts' majesty in the building and their surroundings. Albus' favorites colors and taste for the exotic and uncommon choices were present in the hallways, the ceilings... Gellert was a bit embarrassed, but now he was able to see Albus' responses in person, he had to admit this place had been a silent tribute to his love. He walked up to the wizard and surrounded him with his arms while Albus leaned on the balustrade, gazing down into the chasm.</p>
<p>"What do you think of this place <em>liebling</em>? Do you think you could grow to like it?" - he asked softly. Albus leaned back against him and settled his head on his shoulder looking thoughtful. </p>
<p>"It is... it is so beautiful Gell. So very majestic... maybe I am biased for having lived so long in a place like Hogwarts, but I love the extravagance, the wonders, the many rooms and places to go and explore. And you know I have always loved a view" - he smiled at the dramatic cliffs and rocks before them - "I would just love it because of you Gell, I can see how much of yourself you have poured here" - Albus turned back his head to smile to the blonde wizard and Gellert could just tighten his arms around the other's appreciatively - "But more than that, I love it by itself. This place is amazing, everything we dreamed so long ago" - he concluded nostalgically. Gellert buried his face in Albus' neck and nodded against it.</p>
<p>"It was those dreams I had in mind when I built it" - he admitted, surprised with himself. He couldn't believe he had revealed that, but Albus had always been able to draw out all his secrets even without trying. From his favourite food to the reason he had been expelled from Dumstrang.</p>
<p>He was also scrupulously fair in returning the favour. </p>
<p>"I was never able to build a home. I stayed at Hogwarts almost all year round so I didn't need to. If I was forced to leave, it was for conferences abroad or to make research. I never wanted to make a home I wouldn't be sharing with you" - Albus confessed while he placed his hand in Gellert's head and caressed his soft hair like he was trying to prove himself that this was real. That <em>Gellert</em> was real and here with him.</p>
<p>"This is our home now Al, I want you to consider this place our home. That you build your life here with me, change whatever you like, make a space for you here" - Gellert said passionately, biting Albus' neck softly at the same place the mating bite had scarred.</p>
<p>"And what about your movement?" - Albus finally asked what they had both skirting around. Gellert straightened and turned Albus around without taking his hands - or his eyes - off him.</p>
<p>"Our movement <em>liebling</em>. This never was something I wanted to do without you. Never something I <em>could</em> do without you. I've been floundering around trying to build our vision but we were so young and there was so much we didn't plan for, we didn't <em>know</em> to plan for... I need your brilliance with me Albus, not only your mind but your heart. My movement - as you call it - is lacking its heart. That has always been you" - Gellert said intensely. Albus' eyes were fixed on him, transfixed. He raised his hand to Gellert's cheek and felt it before he replied.</p>
<p>"My love" - he said quietly, softly. Like he was scared to talk too loud and wake up. Gellert knew the feeling - "My love. I would like nothing more than share this vision with you. Whatever guilt I felt when we parted was always about my own worth. About the worth of the ideas, I proposed. It was about the price other people would pay for this. I can never be alright with other people dying as Ariana did, Gellert. She died because I wasn't strong enough to control my brother. But those are my fears, I was never afraid of you. It was never about you or us" - Albus said with tear-filled eyes. Gellert placed both of his hands cradling this beloved face.</p>
<p>"You are worth it Albus. You always were. You are Britain's most illustrious wizard, the brightest mind of this generation. Much more than any of your colleagues, much more than the Ministry or the Minister. Even more than me. Governments have asked for your help, schools all over the world ask your presence at their classrooms even for a day. Half of the arguments I have used came from you. Many of my strategies too and I haven't used more of them for fear of you counteracting them" - Gellert's fingers dried Albus' cheeks when the tears overflowed and felt into his cheeks. He kissed him, unable to resist that lips so close to him, knowing he now had the right to ask for a kiss and take it. </p>
<p>Albus returned the gesture, closing the small distance between them and hugging the taller man closer. They stood kissing for a long time until the air started to become an issue. Gellert leaned back but kept his forehead pressed into the slenderer man.</p>
<p>"Will you help me, Albus? I know I have strayed from our original propose. I need you to help me to find the right path. To analyze the memories I show you, to help me find a way ahead" - Gellert asked again. Albus nodded against his forehead and looked him into the eyes.</p>
<p>"I am with you wholly Gell or I wouldn't have stayed this long. I wouldn't put myself through this temptation if I wasn't planning to stay. And you know I couldn't stay and do nothing. If I am here with you, I am a part of it. The whole way" - Albus smiled sadly then - "The Ministry is corrupt, I have always known this. But I wanted to believe that if I couldn't be with you, at least I would be able to improve things there. To help people at least in a small way. But it was all a facade, the rot is so deep that nothing I tried even started to scratch the surface" - Albus' eyes turned down sadly - "Your visions shows us a way to change. I don't know how yet, and I am not sure how I can to help but I will what I can" - Albus concluded modestly.</p>
<p>"You have done more than that Al, you have built a net of contacts all over the world. The Ministry was right to be afraid of you even if they hadn't the right to treat you as they did" - Gellert observed. Albus nodded, with his mind already buzzing with ideas.</p>
<p>"No matter what Travers said, I wasn't establishing a net of contacts to overthrow him. Or you for what it matters. My friends are free agents and they usually just sent me information about things of interest" - Albus said simply. </p>
<p>Gellert had led them to a small stone bench and he sat there with Albus placed on his lap, the smaller man blushed a bit but show no resistance. All the better, Gellert wanted to have as much contact as he could between them, not only was a lot of fun, but it would help to improve the stability of their bond. Gellert wanted to cover every potential advantage. He then focused again in Albus' words.</p>
<p>"Ah, yes. Your contact network. And your minions running all over the place making a nuisance of themselves. I have been meaning to ask you <em>liebling</em>. What exactly are those Scamanders' brothers to you?" - he asked, unable to hide his jealousy at the brothers' allusion. He had been fuming with jealousy since he had met the younger Scamander at New York. But he had almost exploded with it when he met the older one, proof of it had been his <em>small</em> overreaction at Paris. He might have been a bit excessive when he tried to burn down the city.</p>
<p>Albus, who had placed his arms around his neck, looked down at him in minute incredulity.</p>
<p>"Newt and Theseus?" - he asked - "They were students at Hogwarts, you know that. I may have kept an eye on them after they left. And I indeed... encouraged Newt to go to New York so he would be at the city and I could get more definite information about what was happening there. I had been receiving some strange news of the place and I wanted someone I trusted on-site. Of course, I didn't know <em>you</em> were there impersonating Director Graves. I wouldn't have sent Newt there so carelessly there if I had known. Wasn't a bit excessive to sentence him to death, <em>love</em>?" - Albus asked wryly. Gellert sulked at the answers and the question.</p>
<p>"Theseus, Newt? You seem very cosy with them, on a first-name basis Al. Would you mourn them if they had been killed?" - he asked darkly, unable to resist the question he had thrown the Scamander boy at the amphitheatre. Albus raised an auburn eyebrow, unimpressed. Putting his hand in Gellert's face, he brushed his moustache.</p>
<p>"I would have mourned them, Gell, nonetheless because I was responsible for you crossing paths and for them being there. And because they are genuinely good people who don't deserve to die in this war. I don't understand what you are trying to imply, love. I have known them since they were eleven, as kind and innocent children. They were under my care and my responsibility and I would have never abused that charge then or now" - he rebuked him firmly. Gellert made a face aware than his jealousy had gotten him into hot water.</p>
<p>"I know that <em>liebe</em>. You are an amazing teacher. All your students know this and love you. I am not surprised you would leave such an impression even after they had left the school" - Gellert conceded trying to see their relationship from Albus' point of view. </p>
<p>It was difficult to be objective, Newt had riled him up at New York just by his record mentioning Albus' insistence to protect the boy from expulsion. Although he had noticed at Paris that the boy seemed smitten by that alpha American Auror. He had been just irritated by the boy's daring when calling his followers fanatics and his resistance to back off. </p>
<p>The older brother, however, was another story. He had seen into the older Scamander's mind fleetingly when he was trying to burn them in the amphitheatre and there had been some unresolved feelings about his former DADA teacher. Even with his fiancée a few meters away just the name of his old teacher had sparked a reaction from Theseus. Gellert had been far too irritated to react rationally. He was sorry about the loss of the Lestrange's girl but he had wanted to turn the fool's attention back to his fiancée where it belonged.</p>
<p>Albus' gaze was fixed on him and he seemed to have followed along with his recollection. His sad gaze was focused inside.</p>
<p>"I talked to Leta when they came to Hogwarts to put those manacles on me. I wonder if my words spurred her to act as she did that night" - Albus confessed sadly. Gellert looked up at him surprised, he had expected another defence of the Scamanders'.</p>
<p>"Lestrange? I can imagine you would have much influence on that girl. Her family was dark, no matter who she had gotten engaged" - Gellert noted - "She had joined my cause two years ago and I believe she was genuine in her wish of change. I don't know if she wouldn't have bid her time and stayed neutral if I hadn't attacked those boys directly. That had nothing to do with you, I don't believe whatever you said her was 'go to Paris and kill Grindelwald'" - Gellert observed a bit teasingly. Albus smiled a bit in response.</p>
<p>"Of course I didn't. I wasn't even thinking of you when I talked to her, I just believed she would be freer if she confessed her pain to her fiancée, nothing else. Despite her position at the Ministry and the rumours about the Obscurial I didn't expect she would be at the raid" - Albus admitted. </p>
<p>Gellert felt uncomfortable at the mention of Credence and Albus noticed right away. He fixed his gaze on his lover and asked.</p>
<p>"Where is that boy now Gellert? I was told he left with you and no one has heard of him again. Not even Miss Nagini who is broken at his loss" - Albus said sternly. </p>
<p>Gellert looked up to his lover in small awe. Here it was the protective Hogwarts' professor who had kept him at bay just with his presence at the school. He felt sheepish at the thought of his former plans with the Obscurial and by some of the steps he had taken with him to try and win his loyalty. He hadn't slept with the beta, luckily, but he had been encroaching his space, flirting with the confused boy and he wondered if that would come to bite him in the ass now. </p>
<p>Albus seemed to read something in his face because he tried to rise from Gellert's lap. Gellert closed his arms around his love quickly and tried to calm the other.</p>
<p>"He is here at Nurmengard, he has been staying, learning magic. Miss Goldstein has been taken care of him mostly" - Gellert said in a rush. Albus didn't look convinced although he didn't try to rise again.</p>
<p>"And? You have been having him learn magic. For the goodness of your heart, I suppose. What is his position at your movement? The purpose you have chosen for him.... his position at your side?" - he asked quietly like he feared the answer. Gellert knew he wouldn't like what Gellert had to say but he could, at least, calm one of those fears.</p>
<p>"He is not important to me. Never. He is just a tool I have been grooming for the cause but he has never and he never will be of consequence" - Gellert rushed his explanation knowing this was something he needed to come clean - "I knew I couldn't confront you and you remember the visions I used to have" - he said. Albus nodded grimly.</p>
<p>"About the Obscurial killing me. You thought at the time it was Ariana" - Albus responded - "You were planning to send him to kill me" - he said brokenly turning his gaze away. Gellert denied ashamed but firmly.</p>
<p>"Not for a moment I believed he would be able to kill you, Albus. I just wanted you distracted, when the time came for me to take Britain. I would have used him as bait and once the Ministry was mine I planned to have captured you and convince you to join me again" - he completed. Albus looked down to him distrustful. </p>
<p>"I saw Newt's and Tina's memories of that day, Gellert, before the Ministry came for me. That was a pretty intimate gesture of welcome for someone of 'no consequence'" - he said grimly. Gellert bit back a curse towards the absent magizoologist.</p>
<p>"I have used those gestures to build his trust in me Albus, but I don't mean anything with them and I won't continue them with him or anyone else" - he vowed genuinely. Albus' distrustful facade seemed to crack a bit at his words.</p>
<p>"And how will you explain that to the boy? I can't imagine he will take it calmly if you have been pretending to be interested in him. For what it matters, I am surprised he hasn't appeared here after learning of my presence" - Albus observed darkly. Gellert was surprised at his words.</p>
<p>"It wasn't like that Albus, I have never gone that far. I may have encroached his space to make him trust me. But I have never implied or claimed any interest in him I have barely seen him since he arrived here except to give him his wand and..." - Gellert trailed off here. Albus sighed heavily.</p>
<p>"Out with it Gell, I can already tell I will want to kill you for this" - Albus prompted him. </p>
<p>"I told him his name was Aurelious Dumbledore" - he declared. Albus looked down to him appealed.</p>
<p>"Dumbledore? What the hell Gellert, and he believed you? That doesn't make any sense" - he exclaimed trying to understand the reasoning. </p>
<p>He hadn't any cousins, his father had only a sister and she hadn't even married. The last of his family were his brother and him, and they hadn't any children. His father had died in prison when he was still at Hogwarts and her mother had been killed six years after by her sister who had died at fourteen, thirty years ago. That boy had been born after the turn of the century. The dates made no sense at all for Albus.</p>
<p>"Do you have any proof of that or you just told him that so he would feel betrayed and tried to kill me?" - Albus asked, starting to look more irritated by the lie than the murder plans. Gellert turned the question around in his head wondering if there was any answer which would save him from Albus' righteous fury. </p>
<p>"I am wondering the same thing" - a voice was heard from the dark shadows of the balcony. Both Albus and Gellert turned surprised to the young man entering the light. </p>
<p>Gellert felt Albus tense on his lap, but he didn't raise from his seat. Although he turned so he was sitting sideways on his legs instead of straddling him as he had been. That gave Gellert a clean shot to Credence if needed. His love was above all a strategist, although he looked to the young man warily, without malice, he was ready to defend themselves.</p>
<p>"Credence Barebone?" - Albus asked softly. The younger boy seemed taken aback by Albus' aspect and tone of voice. He had been expecting a venerable professor or a master duellist. Not a beautiful omega redhead with a kind voice. </p>
<p>"Professor Dumbledore I presume. I have been told about you. I have been called Credence Barebone most of my life. My recently discovered identity... by your words I take you didn't know about me?" - he asked cautiously. </p>
<p>Gellert kept silent at this interchange. He could see the boy quickly softening towards his husband. That was one of Albus' more dangerous skills, he could make people love him with barely two words and they would become loyal to the death. In return to that gift, he also made some people despise him almost as quickly and viscerally. </p>
<p>"As I was saying to Gellert, although my brother and I haven't been in speaking terms for a long time, he lives close by at Hogsmeade and I believe I would know if he had any children. The only other Dumbledore relative we have alive is my aunt Honoria, my father's sister, and she has been single and disinclined to tie herself to a mate for as long as I have known her. As for my parents... both died long before you would have been conceived" - Albus ticked off the options with his fingers, he turned back to his silent mate in question. Gellert nodded in return to all this information.</p>
<p>"You are almost right Albus. But you know my information often doesn't come from people but Visions. What I know is something Credence's father doesn't even know, or at least he thinks the situation was handled in a way it didn't" - Gellert revealed. Albus looked down to him widening his eyes.</p>
<p>"You mean Aberforth... You mean I really have another living family..." - Albus trailed off incredulous. Gellert nodded again in response. Albus turned back to the young man, clearly trying to see any resemblance to his brother or their family.</p>
<p>Credence straightened instinctively under his scrutiny and Albus, soft, kind Albus, immediately rose from Gellert's lap and walked to the boy hugging him close like he was a young child. Credence was so taken aback by the gesture, unused to any kind of positive physical attention, that he didn't resist the contact and he soon melted into the omega's soothing pheromones. Albus was just a bit shorter than the beta but Credence buried his face on his shoulder and Gellert knew the young boy had started to cry on his uncle's arms. </p>
<p>Gellert rose from the bench and walked to his mate and his law-nephew surrounding both with his arms and his own protective alpha pheromones. Thanks to Albus' presence, the boy didn't react negatively except for tensing slightly. Albus reacted hugging the child closer and soothingly caressing the short hair. Credence hadn't accepted any closeness from Gellert after that first day, and the alpha hadn't offered it either. He hadn't lied to Albus. He wanted the boy's trust and used any strategy to make him comfortable around him, but he didn't want the child - acne gave him hives - much less knowing who he was related too - Aberforth gave him rashes - he was just a tool for him. </p>
<p>But maybe, a very small part of him had wondered how Albus would react to the son his brother had rejected and how it would be for the both of them protect this boy and finish to raise him.</p>
<hr/>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Omega Voice: Ok, another cliche here. Don't know where it came - or I would give credit - but I am sure many of you have seen this in other A/B/O fics. Just a defence mechanism for the omega to calm their mates or even other alphas when they are agitated. Albus is very happy to use it to calm Gellert :D</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The game of Risk</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Albus and Gellert reach an accord and the first pieces for the future are set on the board.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warning: talking about someone being pressured to have an abortion. She doesn't do it, but both her family and the father try to convince her.</p>
<p>For those who don't know the game, Risk is a board game about world domination. You have pieces and territories and fight against the other players to conquer the world, I thought it fitting for those two.</p>
<p>So this is the last chapter for this story, before anyone call me out for lying :D I have made this a series so there is a few things I want to write but I thought this one at least could be marked as completed as I have reached what I wanted to reach with this story, Abus and Gellert finally at the same page and together. I want to write at least three other plots for this universe: Travers' fate, Aberforth's fate and Gellert's followers falling prey to Albus' charms. I am not sure of the chronological order for this and I may start them all at once and publish them as I see fit, but probably one of them should be out soon, probably they won't be too long stories unless I get really inspired by one. If you are interested, subscribe to the series, and if you want any other plot, feel free to hit me up with your ideas. Thank you so much for all the kudos, comments and people who has taken the time to read this work, I hadn't expected such a wonderful reaction from anyone, but I am glad some of you out there enjoyed this and let me know. I have gotten a lot of inspiration for this pairing so I will be posting other plots for those two, I hope to see you all not only at the other stories in this series but at some of the other stories I will write for them. I hope some of the plots I am brewing will interest you.</p>
<p>Thank you all again, and take care everyone!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Albus sat heavily on the comfortable sofa next to the great window. He may have gotten out of hand eating the delicious food he had been offered. Also, he had gone through all the confessions and meetings of the day, on top of the surprises the day before <em>and the mating just a few hours ago!</em>. Albus was terribly drained. He couldn't complain, regardless, when he looked down to the young boy laying on the window's seat sleeping, even more emotionally drained than Albus. The three of them had entered Gellert and Albus' rooms again and Albus had laid the boy down into the sleeping sofa after he fell to sleep on his arms, drained by his tears. Albus had taken some time to shower and get dressed while the boy took a well-deserved nap and Gellert disappeared through the door - after a passionate kiss, they still were on their honeymoon after all - talking about checking on the outside world while Albus got ready for the day. Albus sat at a near sofa looking down into the peaceful face, trying again to find something of his stern younger brother in the young beta.</p>
<p>Credence Barebone, Aurelius Dumbledore. </p>
<p>Albus wondered if he could discretely drop at Hogsmeade for a few hours and kill his brother. His stupid, morally entitled brother who apparently had gotten some poor girl pregnant and tried to pressure her into having an abortion. Gellert hadn't gotten a clear vision of the situation - and Albus had almost cursed him when he realized that Visions haven't been among the ones he had initially shared with Albus at the study, Gellert had to cajole him into forgiving him for that - but now he had shared them with Albus and Credence. The girl - no name given - had seen no other option but emigrate to the States after her parents had thrown her out of their home and Aberforth had given her an abortion potion, similar to the muggle solution but it vanished the child instead of aborting them. Albus lamented she hadn't wanted - or thought - about contacting him. He would have helped her with whatever decision she had wanted to make, he even would have offered to raise the child himself. Maybe she hadn't known Aberforth and he were siblings, they didn't make a show of it. Despite the nearness between their chosen works, many people didn't know of their relationship. Albus had always suspected Aberforth had chosen to settle in Hogsmeade just to make sure Albus never forgot Ariana's death. He had bought the bar barely six months after Albus took the job as DADA teacher, and he certainly had never tried to make any contact with Albus. Or answered to any of Albus' attempts. He was just there, like some kind of grim conscience at the doors of Hogwarts.</p>
<p>Gellert walked into the room from the hallway with an armful of newspapers floating in his wake, raising the wards again after closing the door. He had, apparently, been checking into his followers and gathering the outside world's reaction to yesterday's events. Albus could see newspapers from all over the globe, from America to Australia including countries from every continent. Albus saw words in German, Portuguese, French, Chinese, Arabic... The professor raised his eyebrows surprised by the conscientious collection.</p>
<p>"I am reasonable sure the Chinese have no interest in our nuptials Gell" - Albus observed picking one of the papers in that language. Gellert hadn't collected just <em>a paper</em> from each country, apparently, he was trying to get different perspectives from different publications. </p>
<p>"You would be surprised <em>liebe</em>. Your situation has ruffled many feathers, not only on many of your more influential friends, like the Flamel but even among many countries' Ministries" - Gellert said gleefully. Albus' eyebrows were quickly disappearing up his forehead, such was his surprise.  </p>
<p>"Did you plan this?" - he asked amazed. Gellert tried to repress his reaction but couldn't but laugh softly in response. </p>
<p>"I couldn't have planned this outcome if I tried. Not even my Visions had shown me how popular you are and how much... empathy your situation would raise among the people. You are being hailed as a hero of omegan rights and a victim of the British Ministry" - Gellert crowed like that was his accomplishment. </p>
<p>Albus was a bit appalled at the situation. He was happy that the Ministry heavy-handedness and straight dictatorial decisions were subjected to close scrutiny. Travers and his ilk didn't have any right to act as they had and they needed to be stopped before they scaled to even worse acts for people with less escape than Albus. But he wasn't sure how many of those reactions were people genuinely worried about the abuse of power and how many were people trying to take advantage of Albus' situation for their own ends. They could use the first but the second type of people was dangerously volatile, they would join their cause just enough to reach their goals and then become a weakness or straight out betray them. With Gellert's Visions still in his mind, he would need some time to assimilate this new outcome.</p>
<p>"Where has your brilliant mind wandered to, Al?" - Gellert asked touching his hand to Albus' chin and raising his eyes to his. Albus smiled sheepishly at the question aware of his habit of getting lost in his own mind had driven his lover spare at times when they first met. </p>
<p>"Sorry, love. You know me, any time is a good time to plot"- he admitted. Gellert nodded understandingly but raised an eyebrow in question. Albus nodded to the newspapers.</p>
<p>"Just wondering how many of those reactions are genuine and how we can spot the opportunistic ones. They can cause more harm than good" - Albus explained. Gellert looked down to the papers in thought, turning the question around in his own mind. This was what had been missing all this time. Besides his selfish reasons to want his love at his side, Gellert had needed Albus' unparalleled mind with him.</p>
<p>"I have people on many of those places who can give me some true impressions, but at some of those places I had no one" - Gellert admitted. Albus raised from his seat to one of the tables the room had and looked down to it before he turned back to Gellert.</p>
<p>"Wand" - he asked and waited to see what the other would do. Gellert looked him in the eye while his hand went to his jacket's inner pocket without hesitating. He offered Albus his wand with a flourish. Albus smiled at the long-missed rush of magic when he received his wand. He could do some wandless magic, much more than most, but his wand had been a part of him for so long and he was happy to have it back.</p>
<p>He then turned again towards the table and started to wave his wand around transfigurating some blank papers Gellert had lying around into a fully interactive map of the world. And then he started with the real hard work: cross-referencing his mental list of contacts into the map in a complicated game of strategy. Gellert walked closer to him until his chest was to Albus' back and watched in silence while the other worked on the map.</p>
<p>After almost half an hour, where Albus code-coloured his annotations with his own, complicated evaluations, the map was filled to the brim with an intricate network of people. Gellert had fallen silent at his back, but their young ward wasn't as sleep as they had thought.</p>
<p>"That is amazing! I thought you taught Defence at Hogwarts professor, not charms or transfiguration, or whatever that magic this is" - Credence said amazed while he walked to the table. Albus nodded modestly to the child.</p>
<p>"Please, I understand if you don't feel comfortable yet to call me uncle, but I won't mind if you call me Albus. And I taught Defence at Hogwarts, you were told right. But I am good at other magic too. Incidentally, you aren't wrong about the branches implicated here, I used a mix of charms and transfiguration to make this map, you have a fine grasp of magic already for such a short time you have been exposed to the theory"- Albus smiled to his nephew. Credence smiled back proudly, happy for the encouragement of the famous teacher.</p>
<p>"Albus has one mastery or several in almost every magical subject you can think of. He got O's and honourable mentions in all his NEWTs and he took the exams about just every subject" - Gellert said proudly, remembering Albus' pride that summer so long ago and all the information he had been gathering - spying - from the other over the years. Albus blushed hotly making good of his redhead countenance. </p>
<p>"Not all of them Gell. To start with, I didn't take some of the subjects at Hogwarts" - Albus said embarrassed of his boastful youth. Gellert laughed and kissed the hot blushing cheek he had within his reach and surrounded him with his arms.</p>
<p>"Of course I remember. You didn't take Herbology and Muggle Studies, did you?" - he observed with almost a roll of his eyes. Credence's eyes were bulging in his orbits.</p>
<p>"All O's! That's the best mark of all, isn't it? And what are those honourable mentions?" - he asked curiously like the child he no longer was. </p>
<p>"Yes, the grades at England's schooling are as follows: Outstanding (O), Exceeds Expectations (E), Acceptable (A), Poor (P), Dreadful (D) and Troll (T)"</p>
<p>Albus explained kindly to the younger boy writing it down in a free paper. He picked it up like it was a precious gift, instead of a simple list of grades. Gellert interceded again. </p>
<p>"As for the honourable marks, those are giving when someone gets the best marks on a subject, often better than any of their predecessors not only their peers" - Gellert explained. Credence eyes went wide again.</p>
<p>"And you get this mention for every subject you took?" - he asked incredulously. Albus nodded embarrassed and proud at once. Credence looked to the blonde wizard and asked him.</p>
<p>"And what about you? Aren't you as powerful as prof... as Albus?" - he asked innocently to the dark lord he had thought was the more powerful wizard of his generation. </p>
<p>Gellert made a face to the question, and Albus was still too miffed at the boasting of his grades to pity him... too much. He placed his arms around the ones which circled his waist in a show of support and turned his face to kiss his cheek. Gellert moved just so, so he kissed his mouth instead. After a moment he had to let go and answer to Credence's curiosity.  </p>
<p>"That hasn't been proved or disproved by any test. I didn't go to Hogwarts for once but to Dumstrang. Also, the classifications are given by country and age, and Albus and I weren't in the same year so I wouldn't have been competing against him anyway even if I had finished school at all"- Gellert admitted reluctantly. He wasn't ashamed of having left school before finishing his last year. But he knew it was a mark against him with some of his followers and the government officials he had tried to convince. No one who actually met him and saw him doing magic could argue about his skill and power. But some of his detractors used his schooling story to dismiss his arguments as lacking true deep and knowledge to back them up. </p>
<p>"You didn't finish school? I thought you couldn't keep your wand if you didn't. Legally I mean" - Credence corrected looking doubtfully to Gellert's hands like he was remembering the Dark Wizard's actions which would make the illegal use of a wand a small transgression. Albus chuckled softly interrupting them both. </p>
<p>"You must pass the Ordinary Wizard Level tests to be allowed to keep your wand, we call them OWLs at England. Gellert passed those at Dumstrang too, he left the school at the end of his sixth year, the year after those tests. Technically he only missed the last year and the tests at the end of that, although I have no doubt he could take them independently if he needed them" - Albus explained, having turned in Gellert's arms to hug the broad shoulders. </p>
<p>He had felt Gellert tensing but he wasn't certain of the reason although he had his theories. Gellert had been reluctant to admit the reasons for his expulsion when they first met but he hadn't been ashamed of having left the school. Or at least he hadn't at seventeen. Albus, despite his own successfully schooling story, had never looked down on his friend for his circumstances and choices. At seventeen himself, almost eighteen, he hadn't seen any problem with the lack of an official paper as long as Gellert was clever, capable and powerful. Which he was without a doubt. More brilliant than any of Albus' classmates and with the very special ability to think outside the box, to be a visionary, to see what was wrong with society and be brave enough to want to change it. All of this Albus had admired in his friend, and he had been happy to supply him with any theoretical gaps he had because of his schooling.</p>
<p>With a few more years under his belt and many experiences with pompous people, arrogant political rulers and condescending purebloods - occurrences Albus knew, Gellert had experienced too - Albus figured their perspective was a bit different. While he still thought Gellert didn't need a paper to be the greatest wizard Albus knew, the Hogwarts professor suspected his friend had been missing some of the... advantages those simple papers gave you to smooth out the way into some places and with some people.</p>
<p>Albus returned his attention to the younger man, turning back to the map and concluding the argument. Gellert and he would return to it later when they were alone.</p>
<p>"You will need to catch up with your learning young one, and it would be interesting to consider if you wish to have some formal schooling. It is not a necessary requisite to do magic or to be successful, but it would smooth your way to many things. You should give it a real consideration and make your own choices, freely. We will both support you whatever choice you make, I hope you know this" - Albus concluded kindly. Credence smiled in response bashfully, clearly still unused to this kind of support. Gellert returned from his own dark memories to back up Albus' words.</p>
<p>"Albus is right <em>kleiner</em>. You can do whatever you wish with your schooling and any decisions you make, we will back you up" - Gellert said decisively. He kissed Albus again when he saw the faint worry on his face and turned to look the map again - "What is this thing then, <em>liebling</em>? Going by what we were talking before I would guess this is a map of your network, but if that is true you have more power than your Ministry suspected. This is bigger than my own organization!" - Gellert exclaimed incredulously. Albus denied with his head, laughing.</p>
<p>"It's not like that, love. Your people are loyal and answer to you and your call. Those are just contacts of mine. People I have been in touch with that I have found have... similar opinions to mine. People who are tired of the status quo, people of influence, or power, or both. Even some less 'political' key players, people like Newt Scamander who have the brilliance to make a different life for themselves and whose... special talents or professions made them interesting to know. They won't fight a revolution, but their information and resourcefulness are very useful to have on your side. But those people aren't an army, and they don't answer to me" - Albus explained. </p>
<p>While he had been explaining the different contacts he had, some coloured dots had lightened up showing which one was each: green for influential people, red for powerful, blue for knowledge, yellow for special skills. Gellert and Credence were looking fascinated to the blinkering dots. Gellert made a face at Newt's name.</p>
<p>"You may be not giving enough credit to that Scamander boy. He was the one to contact me and tell me about his brother's retirement to grieve his fiancée, and of the offer the Minister had made to him. He didn't come out and asked me to rescue you but he all but gave me the plans into the building and the dates to the ritual" - Gellert allowed reluctantly. Albus smiled to the yellow dot at the south of London in response. </p>
<p>"I don't doubt Newt's loyalty or his bravery. He has shown both in spades" - Albus admitted thoughtfully - "But his main focus is, above all, the safety of his creatures and others like them. His main purpose is to challenge people's minds about the preservation of animals, particularly magical species, and improve our knowledge about them and their situation. I wouldn't want to make him lose his focus in this, as I believe it's important for him and a crucial task for us all. More and more often we heard about species hunted to extinction or whose habitats have been destroyed - both in the muggle world and ours - and I agree with Newt, this is something which needs to be stopped before it's too late. While I would like him to have him in our side, and I want nothing else but for him and his loved ones to be safe, I wouldn't compromise that goal" - Albus explained. </p>
<p>Gellert nodded thoughtfully, he wasn't fond of the magizoologist but even he had to admit that he was passionate about his beliefs. If Albus, whose opinion Gellert prized above all others, felt whatever the boy was working on was worthy of interest then Gellert was also interested. He made a mental note of researching about the boy's purposes at a later time. He fixed his gaze again on Albus' map, his mind buzzing with how to use all those contacts if he could. </p>
<p>Credence seemed to understand they needed time alone - after Gellert's pointed look - he gave the map a parting look before he excused himself to go back to his studies. Albus gave him a hug and the order to come to look for him if he needed any help. Once the boy was out of the door, the professor turned back towards his husband.</p><hr/>
<p>"Back to all this" - Albus gestured the papers around them and the map he had created - "What do you want to do about it, if anything? I could try to use some of my contacts to hear their impressions about what happened" - Albus observed, walking back to the papers and picking up the American one, the "New York Chronicle". He read quickly through the editorial, Gellert reading it with him. It was clear that while the Americans were a bit behind in the muggle-wizard relationships, they were way ahead about omegan rights. Or at least their press was pushing that way, this article was a very articulated criticism to the Ministry's abuse of power and the way they had tried to force Albus to marry using an outdated magical artefact.</p>
<p>"Can you even use this? To further your agenda? I don't remember you making any particular statement about omegas or omegan rights, not publically at least" - Albus started thoughtfully - "I don't know about all of your followers but of those I know about, most won't care about omega rights or even will agree with keeping the status quo. Many pureblood families still hold to the thought their omegan children should be used as a bargaining chip to improve the family's standing. You seemed very decided to find yourself one when you left before" - he remembered, reluctantly. Gellert flinched at the accurate accusation but grabbed Albus' hand and led him to the window seat, sitting them there, with Albus on his lap again. Albus was rigid in his arms while he waited for his response.</p>
<p>Gellert had avoided talking about this because he still felt ashamed about his younger self's actions and words. He had been hurt and scared when Ariana had died and he had wanted to hurt Albus right back for what he had felt at the time had been his abandonment of him and their dreams. He still felt Albus had folded before his brother's accusations far too easily... but he also understood that his main reason had been the protection of Gellert himself. Albus' admission at the Ministry - when he thought he was talking to Theseus Scamander - had ringed true. Albus' primary concern when he stayed behind after Ariana's death had been kept the record of her demise as an accident for the Aurors and kept Gellert's name - a boy who had just been expelled from a notorious dark-arts friendly school - away from them. How he had managed to keep his foolish brother from accusing Gellert he still didn't know but... in light of this, Gellert's own accusations and his words were even crueller than he had planned. He had claimed their whole relationship a trick he had concocted to keep Albus in line, and he had thrown at his face what he had always promised he wouldn't... his then-status as a beta. He had known of Albus' insecurities and he had abused the trust he had shown him sharing them with him the first time they had a serious fight.</p>
<p>Yes, Gellert hadn't wanted to think about the past and his actions. Not only he didn't know how to apologize to Albus, but he didn't even know if he deserved his forgiveness.  </p>
<p>"I know what I said to you when I left was beyond cruel <em>liebe</em>" - he started carefully, hugging Albus to his chest trying to keep him as close as he could. Albus didn't say anything, he could have been a statue for all the reaction he gave. Gellert persisted however, this was far too important to let go.</p>
<p>"I know you suspect I didn't mean that words, that I just said them because I was hurt and I wanted to hurt you right back. Let me confirm this Albus: I have never, ever cared about your status neither as beta nor omega. It may have come handily the fact you are an omega to... reunite with each other so I won't complain about it " - he smiled softly at the memory of the last few hours. </p>
<p>Albus blushed right up to his ears. Gellert continued, trying to not get sidetracked by the beautiful man in his arms.</p>
<p>"This, however, doesn't change how I feel about you. How I have always felt about you, from the moment we met" - Gellert said forcefully, willing for the other to believe him. Albus seemed to relax minutely at his words but he was still looking at him warily. A wariness which tried - and failed - to hide the hurt his beautiful mate had felt when Gellert had misused his trust and confirmed his worst fears. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gellert sighed, calling himself all kinds of fool. If he could go back to the past and slap his former-self he would have done it without hesitation. But he couldn't so he needed to work with what he had. He raised one of his hands to Albus' face and made him turn towards him. Albus relented after token resistance, but he didn't raise his eyes to Gellert's. Gellert started to kiss his neck, face, everything he had within reach while he continued talking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I love you Albus [kiss], you have snared me from the moment I saw you at Godric's Hollow [kiss, kiss] You are my perfect match, so bright, clever [kiss]" - Albus was starting to soften a bit. He placed his own hand on Gellert's face, raising his eyes while he looked down to him from his place perched at Gellert's lap.</p>
<p>"We sworn to each other thirty years ago, that blood-vow was as close to a marriage bond as we could get away at that moment" - Albus started to say quietly. Gellert nodded with his head without talking, waiting for Albus' point - "Now we are married, legally married. Actually, our marriage has been Ministry sanctioned" - Albus smirked a bit, clearly still amused at the Ministry's blunder.</p>
<p>"So it has, I have the paperwork and all" - Gellert admitted laughing. </p>
<p>"If I believe you about this, about the fact you have always loved me and that you wanted me as a beta and respect me as an omega... Where does that leave us? Where do I fit in this revolution of yours? You have shown me your Visions. You said you wanted my mind, my ideas, a way to fit what you have seen of the Hallows into this revolution... But what are you expecting from me? To stay behind, planning your strategy? To be beside you while you talk in your raids? When the Ministry sends other hit wizards again. What have you planned for, Gellert?" - Albus finally asked what they had been avoiding all this time. </p>
<p>He looked at the newspapers again and to the map, he had created and turned back to the Dark Wizard in question. Gellert, who still had Albus on his lap, took advantage of the position to frame his face with his hands and started to talk:</p>
<p>"I want for you to come with me and meet my followers so they can meet you and give you their loyalty as my partner and as my mate" - Gellert said firmly. He had thought about this for a long time and he knew he wanted Albus as his partner in every way, and for that, he needed for his people to know him and respect him.</p>
<p>"That's... I don't know if it is a good or bad idea. But it will be volatile nevertheless. Many of those people know me as your... opposite I guess" - Albus talked slowly, thinking through the situation - "I don't know what they thought about your actions at the Ministry or what they think your reasons are to have married me" - Albus' mind was again lost into his own theories and alternatives. Gellert kissed the tempting mouth both to distract him before he got too lost into his plots - and because he could.</p>
<p>"Love, <em>liebling</em>. Stop for a moment. My followers don't know about my reasons to get you out of your Ministry's clutches. I didn't know what your reaction would be about me, about the fact we were now married. What your feelings about me and us were. So I didn't give them any explanation. They know I wanted to get you out and the ones who assisted in the ceremony will have spread the word about our marriage" - Gellert explained calmly, releasing Abus' face and surrounding him again with his arms. He didn't feel the need to explain himself - or his feelings about Albus - to any of his acolytes. He had ordered there and they had obeyed him, no matter his feelings about Albus he <em>was</em> a Dark Lord.</p>
<p>"And when you came out just now to pick up all this?" - Albus asked, gesturing towards the papers while he placed his own arm around Gellert's shoulders a bit more relaxed. Gellert shrugged casually.</p>
<p>"I checked they had made out of the Ministry without problems and that everybody had returned - they had - and asked them to gather me as many information on the world's reactions as they could" - he said easily playing now with one of Albus' hands unable to stop touching his mate. They had been just mated a day ago and he was feeling the need to keep as much contact as he could with his omega. Albus allowed the contact, playing with Gellert's hair with the hand he had around his shoulders, and raised an eyebrow in question.</p>
<p>"And none of them asked any questions? I thought you had an inner circle with your most trusted, and that they at least would have questioned you" - Albus observed incredulously. </p>
<p>"They have learnt not to pry until I am ready to share my plans. I am not to be questioned in my affairs" - Gellert concluded. </p>
<p>"I hope you don't expect this kind of... blind obedience from me?" - Albus asked warily. Gellert smiled, kissing the hand he had been playing with.</p>
<p>"Not at all my love, I want for you to be yourself. To challenge me, to use your mind to the fullest and poke to every hole you find in my plans. The same way you have been doing from your school but now at my side and to my benefit" - the blonde wizard said wickedly. </p>
<p>Albus laughed in acknowledgement.</p>
<p>"That I can do. To start with, you are right, I need to meet your followers and in particular your closest acolytes. We need to move fast and take advantage of Travers' incompetence to use this to our favour. But first, we need to know what your people feel about this, about us. They may be the first we will need to... persuade" - Albus said determinedly.  </p>
<p>Gellert nodded in response, but his mind had focused on a... more urgent situation at the moment. He had been caressing the omega on his lap over the last few minutes. As new as their bond was, he was feeling the need to renew their mating before he allowed his omega to step out from their rooms for the first time in public. Albus foray into the private balcony didn't count, or his meeting with his nephew. If he was going to be surrounded by other alphas. he needed to refresh his claiming again.</p><hr/>
<p>Albus, despite his inexperience with the situation at hand, was aware of the needs a newly formed bond had and the instincts new mated Alphas had with their omegas. But he hadn't expected his own reaction to the alpha and he was surprised and almost overwhelmed by it.</p>
<p>When Gellert had started to caress him and nosing his neck, he had felt a rush of heat and warmth all over. His body had relaxed instinctively into the Alpha's hold and he felt how his body had started to get ready for the alpha's mating. He placed both of his arms around the other's neck and he drew Gellert's face closer to his neck with a sigh leaning his own forehead against Gellert's crown and whispering next to his ear.</p>
<p>"Gell, love. We should go back to the bedroom" - he gentled the alpha with loving kisses to Gellert's face.</p>
<p>Gellert didn't respond but he rose with Albus in his arms, making a good show of his strength - Albus felt another rush of <em>heat</em> at his mate's virility. He walked to the door to the bedroom, opening wandlessly, and strode into the room until he reached the bed. </p>
<p>Albus was almost breathless at this display of magic and strength by the time Gellert lovingly laid him down at their bed. He lowered him on the bed covers and laid down beside immediately pressing his forehead against Albus' before he kissed him again, passionately. Now he had him under him, at his bed and protected by his own body, Gellert's instincts weren't so pressing so he could be gentle and loving with his omega.</p>
<p>He deftly opened Albus' shirt and started to kiss his chest, paying special attention to Albus' nipples with both his mouth and his hands. Omega's chests were particularly sensitive and Albus grabbed his head in response cradling him against his breast breathless, one of his legs moving around Gellert's hip to press him against his lower half, brushing their groins against each other's. Gellert let out a low moan, biting Albus' neck softly, not strong enough to be a mating bite but hinting the intention. </p>
<p>Albus grabbed Gellert's jacket and pull, trying to divest him from the rough material. Gellert rose from his position above Albus, crouching on his knees above the omega and divested himself from both jacket and shirt. Albus caressed appreciatively the strong thighs surrounding him while he looked at the shirtless alpha above him with a smile, enjoying the play of muscles of the Dark Lord and the knowledge that this sight was all his now. </p>
<p>His hands started to converge closer and closer to Gellert's groin and the alpha froze, waiting to see what Albus would do. Albus felt wicked and daring and with a swift movement, opened the buttons fastening the trousers together and quickly slipped his hand inside drawing Gellert's already hard cock from his pants. He threw a flirtatious smile to his mate and observed calmy like he was teaching a class.</p>
<p>"I think you are too far away for this to work, mister Grindelwald" - he said. Gellert let out a strangled laugh and carefully moved up Albus' body until he was within reach of his mouth. Albus smiled again and coyly licked the red tip ignoring for the moment the deep breathing above him or the gentle hands on his hair.  </p>
<p>He kept licking the cock in front of him until the gentle pressure of Gellert's hands prompted him to put his mouth around it - carefully covering his teeth - and sucking on the tip. Gellert's unabashed reaction - a loud groan and a small buck of his hips - urged him to keep going, trying to cover more and more of the length on his mouth while his tongue laved the underside of the cock as much as he could. Once he had gone as far as he felt comfortable, he started to bob slowly following Gellert's hands, a constant stream of moaning his indication of success. He felt so excited by the other's reactions, that he deftly opened his own trousers and took himself in hand, moving along the movements in his mouth, reacting with the alpha's reactions.</p>
<p>Gellert had lost any coherence above him, and Albus knew he was close to completion, a small taste of semen already on his mouth. He used one of his hands to fondle his balls, rolling them firmly and Gellert was gone, it only took a few moments for him to come down his throat breathing as he had gone into a run. He felt himself go also, a gentler explosion.</p>
<p>Albus pulled off, swallowing the load in his mouth while Gellert caught his breath. The Dark wizard fell next to Albus, exhausted but had the presence of mind to draw him into his arms, cradling him against his chest while nosing Albus' auburn hair. Albus went willingly into his arms, a low grade of arousal still thrumming in him but he had surprisingly enjoyed Gellert's reactions so much he had released with the alpha. He wandlessly vanished his own mess and the rest of their clothes before he surrounded the alpha with his arms and burrowed into the broad chest.</p>
<p>Gellert finally caught his breath again and talked against Albus' hair where he had hidden his face.</p>
<p>"I love you" - Gellert said, simply. After so long it seemed like the easiest admission possible even if it was the hardest. Albus felt his eyes filling with tears at the words, he tightened his own arms around the other before he had felt able to answer.</p>
<p>"I love you too, Gellert, you are my everything. When I lost you I didn't know how to keep going, where to go or if it was any reason to. You took my heart with you that day" - Albus said almost weeping. Gellert seemed to sense - or hear - the tears in his voice because he leaned back and cradled his face with his hands, looking him in the eye.</p>
<p>"My love, <em>liebe</em>. Always having the right words to say. You described my feelings exactly. I took your heart you say, but you have to know that I left my heart in return with you. I've been living a half-life without you all these years. We became one that summer and neither of us can live without the other, we have only been surviving apart. I can't go back to that and I won't" - Gellert promised possessively, bringing Albus back against his chest.</p>
<p>Albus nodded against the firm chest, out of the will to fight his heart's desire anymore. </p>
<p>They would need to confront Gellert's followers and his inner circle. To confront the world's reactions and expectations. Albus' friends and allies would ask for answers soon enough. Credence needed to be helped, taught, brought into the family. But that all would be later. Here and now, there was only the two of them together, alone against the world the same way they had thirty years ago. But this time they would make it work. This time they were older, wiser. They would be able to stand against anything which would try to tear them apart and tear them down in return Albus promised himself silently. </p>
<p>A silent vow made by one of the strongest wizards in the world and that firmly tied the strands of magic which linked them together, cementing their future and the future of the world.</p>
<p>But for now, Alpha and Omega, Gellert and Albus, the two of them closed their eyes, resting in happy closeness. Firmly entangled at the bed while their magic tightened around each other. </p>
<p>And the two of them slept peacefully, enjoying each other nearness, happy with the knowledge they would confront the future together, their choice made. It hadn't been an easy choice or a quick one, did that make it the right one?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All right, a few things to say. First of all, this story has drawn inspiration from several sources, first and most important, the inspiration which actually prompted me to write this was "Playing Games by IhaveAbadfeelingAboutThis". If you haven't read it, go and read it! Before continuing this note... It is so much fun! Well, that story inspired the Theseus situation, if you have read both of mine and theirs you know what I am talking about. IhaveAbadfeelingAboutThis kindly allowed me to use their wonderful idea, thank you so much again! </p><p>The other main influence for this is "The Marriage Stone by Josephine Darcy", I can't even compare my work with hers of course, not even close, but I can't not mention her as inspiration. The only fault of her work is the fact is, and it will probably always be by now, unfinished. Still, if you haven't read it and you like Snape / Harry, it is a must to read. It will break your heart to see it unfinished, but it will worth every minute of reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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